The Elite
by iamwildatheart
Summary: A new era known as the Golden Peace Years have been created and maintained by the Allied Shinōbi Forces after the Fourth Great Shinōbi War. With the peace, the shinōbi profession demand has significantly dwindled, leaving only a small legacy to uphold their predecessors. For this reason, rose the Elite: specialized shinōbi with war seasoned skills trained during peace time.
1. Prologue: A Fast Break

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.  
**Author:** iamwildatheart  
**A/N:** On a whim, I couldn't help but write this loosely thought up story. Be warn that updates will be sparse if I ever do update.

* * *

**The Elite  
**_Prologue_  
A Fast Break

* * *

She was running. Or trying to, at least.

Her lungs were quickly filling up with fluid, most likely from the stab wound. A large chuck of flesh from her left hip was missing when they managed to slap a explosion note there. And she was cradling her right arm as best as she could because she was pretty sure her arm was not suppose to be able to bend that way.

The pain was excruciating and she did not know how much longer she could stay conscious.

Any minute now, they would catch up to her. Which meant time was running out. Her window of escape was quickly closing and she refused to be dragged back to that wretched base where she would—

Suddenly, the tree to her right exploded.

She felt herself collide with the hard ground and pain unimaginable filled up her right shoulder. All that could be seen was red as a loud ringing took to her ear. A few seconds later when she manage to make sense of anything she was seeing, a charred arm laid sprawled across the ground from her. It was only when she recognized the familiar leaf ring on the finger did she realized that _that was her broken arm_.

Despite all the resilience training she had, hysteria bubbled in her throat as she tried to scream. Instead, she gargled the blood and bile that rose in her throat. Quickly, she rolled to her side and emptied whatever that was left of her pitiful stomach.

Tears blurred her eyes as she struggled to stand using her remaining limbs. Pain seared through her in every way imaginable.

And still she trudged on and took to the trees.

Her hysteria had not lessened by any bit after seeing her limb detached from her body. In fact, all she really wanted to do was curl into a ball and puke some more. But dying was more frightening to her than the risk to wallow in self pity and lose the lead she had on her powerful enemies.

In an effort to clear her mind, she summoned the majority of all the chakra she had left and concentrated it in her core. Whatever that was left of her chakra was being channeled into her feet to quicken her steps.

She was close to her destination. Only a two more kilometers and she would make it. The emergency transport post to her village was an instantaneous seal that could be activated if a recognizable chakra was applied. And she would be home. She would make it.

A minute passed and it was unreal how close she was. She could see the complex seal hidden carefully under bush. A few more seconds and all she had to do was touch it with a tiny bit of her chakra and she—

A kunai grazed her cheek.

"You're quite the resilient brat, aren't you."

Unfortunately, in the last 50 meters left before reaching the post, they had finally caught up.


	2. Chapter One: Peace Time

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.  
**Author:** iamwildatheart  
**A/N:** This first chapter is to set the world The Elite is placed in, so there won't be much plot. Though very similar to the original Naruto-verse, the shinōbi regulations of this world is different. Killing, murder, etc will be the expected norm. What one might realistically expect trained killers to do. Sorry in advance.

* * *

**The Elite  
**_Chapter One_  
Peace Time

* * *

A calm had settled over all the shinōbi nations after the Fourth Great Shinōbi War.

Construction was initiated immediately. With Madara's and the Akatsuki's mass destruction over the main lands, most villages and towns were damaged or completely destroyed.

As a result, the majority of missions post-war were directed towards rebuilding and enhancing their homes. After some time, the hidden villages began seeing a drop in mission requests once construction was complete. With the creation of the Allied Shinōbi Forces, the Five Great Shinōbi Hidden Villages were reluctant in accepting missions that clashed with the accord founded in the recent war; especially to the Land of Fire, home of the Hailed Hero.

Eventually, many war veterans retired early and took on civilian jobs. Their children, frightened of the ninja life style their parents had supported during their era, eagerly sought alternative vocations. As a result, academy class sizes dwindled significantly and shinōbi regulations were tightened to ensure the quality of discipline were above par to dispute the now faltering line of shinōbi reserves.

But as all smart leaders know, a good leader prepares for war in times of peace; regardless of the lack of soldiers.

The Rokudaime was a man harden by the two wars raged in his life and the lost, with the exception of his genin team, of all the people who mattered to him. And so when the anticipated post-war relations between countries outside of the Allied Forces grew strenuous, he retaliated with the creation of a horrific secret organization. From the post-war ashes of Konohagakure, the Elite were established. Despite its creation was done in secret, the deeds of the Elite grew well-known as word of entire platoons have been wiped out in mere hours and enemy bases found to be completely destroyed not long after discovery.

And what scared everyone the most was that no one knew who the Elite were.

Though it was rumored that the current hokage, the Nanadaime, was once a part of it, it was never confirmed.

These Elite warriors are trained and seasoned until their reflexes are akin to that of war veterans. Most of those recommended for the position do not live through the training or are too traumatized to continue. The endured, however, are awarded with one of the five exclusive positions in the Hokage's closest entourage.

It was an honor greater than a battle death.

You simply were not just any shinōbi. You were the fastest. You were the loyal. You were the resilient.

You were the Elite.

* * *

A fist slammed into her cheek and Sarada was sure that a molar was loose.

She quickly sent a kick to the man's groin and threw some smoke bombs. Sarada defenestrated herself out the closest window and made a fast break for the forest. The foliage would protect her.

Sarada knew she could not outrun her enemies injured like this. Not when they consist of two_ especially persistent_ special jōnins. This left only one option: hide.

Knowing that they were master chakra detectors denied her of any jutsu-based camouflage. They would see through the ruse immediately. And even with her inherited perfect chakra control, she was sure she could not withhold the disillusion for more than a few seconds in this current state.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of a gurgling steam and Sarada was stuck with inspiration. Quickly she stripped away every article of clothing, her ANBU mask was lost three weeks ago, and decided to go mud sliding in a pile of soddy dirt by the rocky stream. After essentially drilling herself into the ground, she compressed her chakra into the signature of a tiny living creature hoping to be mistaken for a fish, though it was not hard considering she had next to nothing left.

Sanada tried to stay awake with the long hours to come but the stab wounds to her rib cage, the burns on her hands, and the surely now infected flesh wound on her back were starting to take its toll. However, she knew the risks to try to heal herself. She could not afford to redirect her measly amount of chakra left to heal her body. Not when the special jōnin with the weird eyes, whom she assumes to be the chakra tracker, was looking for a being that was flitting their chakra around with practiced ease.

So all she could do was wait.

Seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into hours. When nearly 24 hours had passed, Sarada emerged feeling weak and sleep deprived. Her mind sharpened and she calculated what had to be done. She was without clothes, weapons, and food supply. This meant she had to find a town or a village to recuperate. Satisfied with the rough plan, she simply lapped the water for a long drink and stumbled towards the direction she hoped to have some form of civilization.

Luckily, her first guess at civilization was correct. Unluckily however, it was Amegakure. Despite Hokage-sama's kindred-ness to their past leader, Amegakure had rebuffed any alliance attempts Naruto-ōji had made. Even during the Fourth Great Shinōbi War, they had decided to remain to themselves, rather than to help contribute to the fight to save humanity. Their stiffness has made many enemies, even during the now almost twenty-five Golden Peace Years.

Sarada scoffed at the thought, '_Golden Peace Years, my ass.'_

The smaller lands that surround the Five Great Shinōbi Nations were constantly warring against the Allied Shinōbi Forces. Small skirmishes were frequent all across the borders. And though there were no unfriendly fires Sarada could remember near the borders of the Storm* and Fire, she would bet that Ame had at least made a dozen successful minor attempts. They were not once the most prized assassin hidden village for nothing.

As she neared the outskirts of the village, Sarada remembered reading somewhere that the rainfall in Amegakure was laced with chakra to monitor foreign visiters. A technique created by Nagato when he was the puppet leader of the Akatsuki. Though he is gone, whoever the leader now utilized the same technique and allowed for a slight drizzle to fall exclusive around Amegakure, stopping right before the lake that surrounds it.

Sensing no chakra in the lake itself, Sarada slipped into the water to wait for someone to pass by so she could ambush them. There was simply no way she would make it out of Amegakure if she entered. Her best luck was homeward bound shinōbi.

It was a few hours before anything close to life had scurried near the outer lake coasts and then a couple more hours before she heard voices. At this, Sarada jolted into high alert.

"His face looked like this!" a boy's voice rang out.

A young child? Judging by the inflection, he was twelve at most. Sarada began contemplated a course of action when several other signature appeared.

"Scaredy-cat indeed!" a girl's voice giggled. "That's pretty accurate, Kentei."

Sarada furrowed her eyebrows, '_A chūnin team? Wait no, they sound too young. Perhaps a genin_—'

"Hey, we should not be so cocky. One of these days, it won't be so easy," an deeper voice chuckled softly.

A sensei. Jōnin, definitely. Sarada suddenly felt a pang for Mirai-sensei.

"Yeah, those Konoha ninjas didn't even see it coming! How pathetic!" a new, third voice laughed.

Sarada frozed.

"I'm telling you, these assassin missions are boring. Can't we assasinate someone cool? Like the Lightning Daimyo?" the boy Kentei exclaimed.

"Now, now," the sensei chastised, "that's not for us to decide, Kentei. You know we do not take on assassin missions of higher authority lightly. Besides, the missions we do now are great training purposes for our specialized team."

The young genin team was training to be a specialized assassin team. And they were using the border towns of Fire as target practice. It took all of Sarada's will power not to thrash them straight away.

"But sensei," the girl whined, "assassinations are so easy. Wiping out entire towns have become like those missions where we—"

She tuned them out, unable to stomach the conversation anymore.

These—These children were killing hundreds of people. They had felt no remorse for killing civilians and ninjas in mass amounts. With her own hands bloodied to the core, it would be hypocritical for her to say she has not killed in cold blood or assassinated some poor civilian or naughty ninja, especially since that was the type of mission that she had just completed. But it was different hearing it from _mere_ children laughing at her dead _brothers and sister in arms._

Her vision was filled with red.

Before the team even made it midway to the gate, Sarada quickly subdued them all and slit each of their throats with steady hands. Part of the fatality was that it was a high risk to leave them alive, another part was her sense of justification. She began pulling on any articles of clothing that could remotely fit her. Once she finished stashing all the weapons she could gather and procured any blood replenishing and solder pills she could get, Sarada quickly disposed of all the bodies and headed for cover, checking to see she had really indeed shaken her enemies off.

The mission she was called on was to assassinate a civilian rebel leader in a small relatively, unknown village at the border of Bird and Bear. A group known as the Kami Welders had been causing trouble for all of Bird country. The daimyo of Bird had requested from Fire that a skilled shinōbi were to infiltrate the civilian rebel leader's close circle and stop the revolution from igniting all the way to Ishigakure. Though technically the Earth and Bird had a written alliance to utilize their shinōbi for a cheaper price, relations were still awfully fragile according to the Bird Daimyo. Thus the mission fell to Konohagakure. It had been an important enough mission for it to be requested for Anbu to take on.

Because of the tipsy state of peace in Bird, the mission called for a slow dissembling of the rebel revolution from the inside to keep the group from starting an uproar and exciting a revolution on that in its own, but quickly enough to keep it from gaining momentum. Which happened to be Sarada's specialty. Her long-term mission success rate was ninety-eight percent.

Despite what most people thought, Sarada would not credit her success to mere ninjutsu or taijutsu or genjutsu or any type of jutsu. She credited it to her incredible ability to act for long periods of time. Most long-term mission requires a new persona with a past. She would begin acting before her mission started to ensure her past was far enough that her stories could be validated. This art was drilled into her by her replacement sensei.

Rather than running like a mad man all the way to Bird and starting the mission there, Sarada began her mission in the village. She posed as a lowly weapon's trader and slowly traveled to Bird. That, in itself, had taken two month. From there, it took her another four to convince the rebel group that she was indeed just a lowly trader treated terribly in all the big shinōbi villages. The rebel group had outside sources and some even recall her fake name as the traders being victimized across countries everywhere. This reinforced her identity. Sarada managed to assassinate the man quickly after climbing ranks in the Kami Welders after another two months. However, what she did not plan was that the civilian rebel leader had enough money to hire five special jōnins from Ishigakure to seek his revenge if he were to ever assassinated. Sarada then spent another two and a half months sending the five said special jōnins on a merry goose chase all the way up to Earth before running back down to Storm in an effort to lose them. She had only managed to kill three. Ishigakure jōnins are like cockroaches; they refused to be killed.

Sarada quickly adding up the times and found that it had been nearly eleven months. Naruto-oji had given her a deadline of one year before he said he would dispatch a rescue team.

This meant she had roughly seven weeks before a team of a raging Takeuchi, Shikadai, and Himawari would be sent to find her. Anbu did not have the luxury of communication with the Hokage, especially on long-term missions as this one. Search and rescue missions were always prompt. Especially since ninety-seven percent of the time, late arrivals are due to enemy capture, mission failure, or death. The other three percent were credited to torture so great, insanity has consumed them to the point of amnesia.

With the thought of home, Sarada quickly closed her eyes and began the slow processes of replenishing her chakra reserves and healing herself to making the slow journey back to Konoha while trying to shake off her trailers.

* * *

Blood. Blood _everywhere._

The stench of blood was so overwhelming that even Anko-sensei would have had a hard time stomaching it all at once.

Every border town that Sarada passed was burned down and the people and children were _all dead. _Surfaces were coated in the red viscous liquid. For something that was supposed to symbolize life, Sarada felt that it was more suited for death.

This third border town was exactly like the others— completely destroyed and void of life. It was wiped clean of all food supplies, weapons armory looted, and all the bodies piled in the center with a Konoha flag draped across the top. An eternal burning jutsu placed on the sacred symbol of the leaf so that it will always burn but never go out.

This was an act of war and any shinōbi who had stumble upon this scene would immediately understand the gravity of the situation. A completely gruesome act against, not just one but three, Konoha-affiliated towns. Towns that were under the jurisdiction of a man that had save all of humanity in the goodness of his heart.

Sarada fist gripped the stolen katana she had found two weeks ago in her hand a little tight.

Un-_fucking_-grateful.

Her only consolation was the justice in the dead genin team whom admitted the murder. And yet still, innocent lives were lost. Lives of friends, family, and children with eyes once filled with mirth, only to flicker as the burning flag laid on top shimmered in the wind.

Sarada closed her heart as she followed through protocol for an attacked town. Bile rose in her throat as she rummaged through the bodies, looking for a survivor. Faces blurred after another as she meticulously checked for pulsating chakra coils. There were no survivors.

Once she was through, Sarada pulled out the seven chūnins and two genins she had found and gave them a proper fire burial. After the First Great Shinōbi War, hidden villages began disposing of all deceased ninjas to ensure that the hidden village stayed hidden. Top secret shinōbi information of a hidden village could be found in the body, anywhere from how chakra coils tend to develop in certain terrain or the type of training based on muscle formation could be easily be obtained by a outsider medic-nin. Secrets that could destroy a hidden village if strategized strategically.

As for the civilian bodies, Sarada was sure that their loved ones would like to have the corpse for a typical funeral. There was no need to take away the only earthly remains of those most dear.

Turning herself east, Sarada began running at top speed. Naruto-oji would need to be informed immediately. What they needed was a retaliation plan. A justification.

_Revenge_.

* * *

*Amegakure is located in an unnamed land in the real Naruto-verse. For the sake of this story, however, it will be called Storm.


	3. Chapter Two: Homecoming

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.  
**Author:** iamwildatheart**  
**

* * *

**The Elite  
**_Chapter Two_  
Homecoming

* * *

Boruto has never hated his father more than he did at that exact moment. Who did he think he is, giving his own son a mission in Frost! Didn't his father know that he _hated_ snow? And wearing all these clothes, bleck! It simply was too—

"_Die_!"

Not to mention, Shimogakure shinōbi just didn't die like they use to.

Suppressing a sigh, Bolt swiveled around, throwing snow into his enemy's line of vision in an attempt to distract him. He leaped back, switching weight from his left to his right, and aimed a shuriken for the solar plexus. Of course the snow-nin dodged, which allowed him to become impaled with the well-placed kunai Bolt subtly hid behind the previous projectile's trajectory.

Killer intent spiked behind him and Bolt ducked just in time before he could be beheaded. The impaled snow-nin, on the other hand, was not as lucky.

"You shouldn't reveal your location so soon," Boruto drawled as he spun the kunai in his hand mockingly at the gaping newcomer. "Your teammate could get beheaded."

With that, Boruto drove the kunai into the shell-shocked teammate.

* * *

"You could've been a lot cleaner," Chiharu commented.

Boruto pouted at his commander's hidden message. He was sloppy.

"B-But they wouldn't stop _moving_," he whined back childishly.

Instead of a response, he received a light knock on the side of his head. Boruto slumped even further and watched Chiharu moved about the camp in a professional manner. The blonde shinōbi began twiddling with her weapon's pack. Bolt watched her, as he has done so a thousand times, begin her nightly (also slightly OCD) regime. Counting.

Her deft hands efficiently removed weapons from her pouch. When she was done, she continued onto her body— sleeves, collars, pockets, wrists, ankles, boots, and so forth. It never ceases to amaze Bolt many weapons his captain could hide on herself. In the end, she had counted eight kunais, thirty four shurikens, seventy-two sebons, two stabbing knives, fourteen meters of steel ninja wire, a katana, and two bobby pins (which Bolt can personally vouch that Chiharu can creatively utilize just a little_ too_ well). She was missing just under half of what she started with.

Chiharu frowned.

"Maybe you could've been a lot cleaner," Bolt playfully mocked.

A rock promptly collided in the same exact spot his captain had knocked earlier. Except this time, it was not too gentle. Bolt pouted even further.

"I miss her."

Boruto's childish facade fell.

Mihara was the second oldest member of the Elite team and Boruto's superior (i.e. his personal hell instructor). She had taught him the ropes to the cruel world of the Elite. She pushed him. She cared for him. She was the first person to ever treat him like he was Boruto and not the hokage's son.

And now she has been missing for months now.

Seven months ago, rumors stated the smaller lands north of Fire have grown restless and the Nanadaime was forced to send her on a solo mission to investigate the disturbing rumors of the events happening between the Land of Hot Water and Frost. Information was steadily flowing between her and the undercover messenger planted in Frost until it abruptly stop two months ago. The hokage immediately dispatched Takeuchi and Chiharu for a rescue mission.

As protocol dictates, all rescue missions are given three weeks. One week to track, one week to search and rescue, one week to recover and give rudimentary medical attention. At least, that's what the standards were. On Mihara's rescue mission, they had not even used the "search and rescue" and "recovery" weeks. They spent every last second of their three weeks even trying to find the slightest hint she still existed on the planet. It was as if she had disappeared.

The hokage is typically more lenient when it comes to extending rescue missions, however with the border problems between Frost and Lightning, they were forced to terminate the mission as failture. Mihara was branded MIA two days later.

The hokage has been sending them all across Lightning and Frost to keep the rebellion at a minimum. It's been months since then and there was not a second left between all the assassinations, healing, and tracking they did to even think about Mihara. Until now.

"Yeah, me too," Boruto agreed softly.

Chiharu threw another rock at Boruto. This time, he caught it.

"We'll find her. Mihara is too stubborn to die. We leave at dusk."

Boruto smiled at his commander's attempt to comfort him, despite her lack of "touchy-feelings." Chiharu was right. There's no way she could be dead. And they'll be back in Konoha in a day. He'll pester his father for another search and rescue mission. And Mihara will be home again.

* * *

"There's something wrong here. Take cover."

Boruto immediately ducked behind a tree, pulling a kunai out as he went. When it finally hit him, he nearly doubled over from the fumes. It was the smell of decaying corpses.

Chiharu motioned for Boruto to trail her. They both silently followed the trail of death. A few hundred meters later, it took them to one of Fire's border towns. Or, whatever that was left of it.

Bodies of civilians and ninjas were piled high in the center. Blood had dried in rivers surrounding the mound of flesh. On top was an ever burning emblem of Konohagakure, mocking the Elitest.

Boruto wanted to destroy whoever that had done this. It made his stomach churn just looking at the horrific sight before him, and not a sick-to-my-stomach kind but in a pure-unadulterated-rage sort of way.

This was a war declaration.

Boruto nearly chucked his katana at the Konoha flag just to keep it from waving in his face.

"Search for survivors. Find any Konoha shinōbis and give them a proper burial."

Boruto gripped his fists tighter and did as he was told. He didn't need to be reminded of protocol or reprimanded for his temper. He knew it was his commander telling him to get it together. And to do so, sometimes it meant closing his heart.

Though they knew based on the smell of the corpse, the Elitest had found no survivors. If there were any, eventually they would have bled out or have been crushed as the perpetrators piled the bodies a long time ago. As for the Konoha shinōbis, they found nine chuūnins and four jōnins. Chiharu unleashed a katon and Boruto watched thirteen of his brothers and sisters go up in flames.

Unable to keep his emotions in control at the thought, Boruto began circling the town with the customary two kilometer radius to check for clues of who had done this. Three-fourths way into his loop, Bolt had found an arm.

The arm was ripped unceremonious from the shoulder based on the tear. From the look of the elbow, the arm was already been broken before the detachment and burning of the limb. If this arm was here, then where was the rest of the body? And what was that familiar looking thing? Bolt reached out for a closer look and then—

Chiharu gave a strangled cry.

Bolt wasn't aware the Chiharu_ could_ give a strangled cry. He grabbed the arm and tried to find his commander's chakra. At that, he latched onto the seal he had placed on her weapon's pack and transported himself immediately to her location.

Chiharu was sobbing uncontrollably on the ground. This alone would have shocked Boruto, if not for the hanging corpse mauled beyond belief in front of him. It was stripped completely naked and had slash marks across its body. A large chunk of flesh was missing from it left hip, so much so that you could see the bone. Its foot was obviously detached from the ankle, and yet the skin had held it together still. The one eye left was once part of a set that Boruto longed to see again after the many months of absence.

And the biggest clue to the corpse's identity was the missing arm.

The arm Boruto held in his hand suddenly felt heavy as he now recognized the ring he'd seen earlier on it. It was the same matching ring he wore on the necklace hidden under his vest. The ring gifted to him when he had officially joined the Elite.

The ring given to him by the very much dead Mihara, hanging in front of him.

* * *

Sakura Haruno had aged well.

This was a fact well accepted in the village. In fact, to this day, men of all ages still flirt with her as she goes about her daily activities. Be it at the grocery store or the hospital, the endless line of men never ceased. This was especially true with the constant flow of visitors from all the hidden villages.

And it was for this exact reason that no one hated the shinōbi accords more than Sasuke Uchiha. No matter how much scaring he did, more would appear.

"Stop pouting," Sakura lightly chided.

Sasuke's mood sunk even lower at the thought of the man, who had just hit on his wife, living to see another day.

"Now, now," Sakura laughed, "if you stop pouting, I'll make you your favorite tomato soup for dinner tonight."

Sasuke gave Sakura a knowing look and continued slumping on. Why couldn't people leave them alone on their daily walks? Annoying.

"You know, Sarada should comes home any day now."

"Aa."

"It been a while, ne?" Sakura said so wistfully.

Sasuke pondered when was the last time he had seen his daughter. He, himself, was called a way on a mission in Lightning for a few weeks when she was given the long term mission. He almost wrangled the dobe's neck when he got back for sending her away before he could see her off. It had been too long.

"I miss her," Sasuke admitted, as he reached out to take Sakura's hand.

Sakura smiled. Over the years, Sasuke had gotten better with telling his feelings. Though conversation still lack, it was much better than it was when they had first started dating.

"Me too," Sakura said as she squeezed Sasuke's hand reassuringly. "I'm sure she's fine."

"If she's not, I'll kill the dobe."

Sakura laughed.

"Yes, yes, but not before you pick up Satoru from the Academy."

* * *

"Tadaima*!"

Not given a second to take her shoes off, Sarada was immediately tackled with a blur of blue and gray.

"Nee-chan**, I missed you!"

Staring into her eyes was a familiar pair of green eyes that matched her own. That aside, the nine year old boy was the exact replica of Sasuke Uchiha. Sarada concluded then and there that her father had found a way to clone himself.

"Hi, Satoru," Sarada affectionately patted Satoru's head.

"Sarada?" asked a distant voice. Immediately, her mother's head popped into the doorway.

Sarada smiled, "Hi Oka-san***."

"Ah! I thought I heard a familiar voice!" Sakura smiled and slowly inched back into the dining room. "Now, both of you come in here in help me set up the table."

Satoru scrambled up while pulling his sister up, never once letting go.

"And when you're done, let me heal your knee. _Properly_!"

Sarada rolled her eyes at her overly concerned mother. Nothing gets pass her eyes.

"Hey nee-chan!" Satoru eagerly shouted, "Guess what? Did you know I'm on the top of my class? And— "

And Satoru continued to ramble on. Sarada was half-listening as she examined her little brother of the differences since she had last saw him. Some baby fat around his face was lost, and he was a good inch taller, reaching to perhaps her shoulder now. His eyes glistened with all the different types of jutsus he was learning at the academy. It had made Sarada feel terrible for missing out on an entire year of his life. She then made a mental note not to take on any more long term missions for a while.

"—Nara-sensei told me that the tactical division actually—"

"Sarada."

Immediately, Satoru stopped his anecdote at the call of his sister's name. Sarada's attention then shifted from her younger brother to her father.

Her father was considered intimidating to most of her peers in her generation. Sasuke Uchiha once had held the fate of world in his hands and nearly abolished it. Though many have forgiven him, there are still those prejudiced to his past deeds.

And though there are many reason to fear him, Sarada could only see the kind eyes he had when looking at her, the long tea parties when she was six, and the secret kisses he gave her when he thought she was asleep. Sasuke Uchiha was her daddy.

"Otōu-san."

Sasuke shuffled pass both his children and gave them each a loving pat, stopping to linger a little longer on Sarada.

"Okari.****"

Sarada was home.

* * *

*Tadaima is phrase to say, "I am home," in Japanese.

**Nee-chan is older sister in Japanese.

***Oka-san is mother in Japanese.

****Otōu-san is father in Japanese.


	4. Chapter Three: The Inbetween

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.  
**Author:** iamwildatheart**  
**

* * *

**The Elite  
**_Chapter Three_  
The Inbetween

* * *

Times like these was when Naruto really needed sake.

Or at least thirty-seven bowls of Ichiraku's special pork ramen.

"Are you even _listening_ to me?"

Naruto wanted to bash this women. However, the people of Konoha would probably looked down on their esteem Hokage strangling the fire daimyo's daughter.

"Of course," Naruto gritted his teeth, "however, your request is not likely as this mission does not require three special jōnins to escort you and your daughter on a shopping trip in the Kantōu shopping district."

In reality though, two of the three special jōnins were actually ANBU captains, but that information is supposed to be classified.

"Yes, yes, yes," the flamboyant woman, girl really, waved him away, "but I _specifically_ want Takeuchi Soya, Shikadai Nara, and Sasuke Uchiha."

"And why is that?"

"Because they are simply the best pedigree to offer us."

A pause ensued the princess's request. Naruto's smile widened. It was obviously very fake.

"What is your real motive in asking for these men to follow you around?"

The princess hesitated before confidently saying, "I believe Takeuchi Soya and Shikadai Nara would make wonderful suitors for my daughter."

Naruto raised a brow at her admittance. Clearly, the princess has no shame.

"And Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Who said I couldn't have my own eye candy?"

Naruto wanted to slam his head against his desk repeatedly. However, Shikamaru would probably have him working in the office until the morning after tomorrow if he broken his desk again for the third time this month.

Instead, Naruto continued to smile and pressed the intercom button that connected him to the mission intake room.

"Hai, Hokage-sama?"

"See that the Princess of Fire and her daughter gets the appropriate guard for the duration of her stay here in accordance to the shinōbi mission risk scale. As you know, she is a very important political figure."

The princess smiled and gave Naruto a wink, which he returned back playfully.

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

With that, the princess rushed to the mission intake room two floors down and Naruto was alone. Until Shikamaru decided to enter with more paperwork. Fooey.

"You know, she'll be awfully mad later. And we'll probably hear from the Fire Daimyo himself because of this," Shikamaru drawled lazily as he placed the stack neatly on Naruto's corner.

"But will we really suffer repercussions? I don't think so!" Naruto grinned cheekily.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "I wonder who she'll get."

After all, despite being the princess of fire, the escort mission would probably rank at most a C; meaning either a team of genins or a newly risen chūnin.

* * *

Oh how she hated packing.

A week after Sarada had been back, she went to hunt down her old landlord for her old apartment back. Unfortunately, it was still leased. However, the land lady had a duplicate of the same living quarters two floors above it and Sarada was more than happy to take it. Living back at home for the last week had made her realized, that though she did love her family very much, they drove her nuts.

If she had to see her father give all her guy teammates any more dirty looks—

"Hey! What are you doing with all those boxes?"

Sarada whipped around at the familiar voice and gave a brilliant smile, "Takeuchi! Come and help me!"

The black haired shinōbi gave a brilliant smile, took a number of the boxes littered around his longtime friend, and started taping.

Sarada's mother was a frequenter at the Konohagakure National Library. And more than often, Sarada was also brought along with. The lack of a babysitter and her father's high shinōbi ranking had made it quite impossible for her mother to leave Sarada at home. And so everywhere Sakura went, Sarada was sure to follow.

Despite Sarada's love for books now, Sarada had no interests in books in the early years of her life. Sakura had tried to get her interested in sensory books, picture books, and audiobooks. Sarada instead chewed, ripped, and ate them all with vicious attitude. Sasuke laughed at his daughter's own likeness to his own when he was her age.

And so whenever she was dragged to the library, Sarada would lament in the children's section for hours before dragging her reluctant mother out the door. It was not until she was six did she discover another regular, a dark haired boy with curious yellow eyes, in the reference section, two bookshelves down.

After three weeks of fighting boredom by herself, Sarada finally approached him and asked for some company. His name was Takeuchi Soya.

Takeuchi was already in the academy and was about to start his second year in the spring. Until then, he was camping out in the library to pass the time. At first, Sarada was surprised at another person simply reading books for fun. The only person she knew to do that was her mother and Sarada is convinced that her mother is not normal. But after Takeuchi began reading out loud during their weekly meetings, Sarada began to see why reading was fun. Together, they read anything they could get their hands on, from action novels to cookbooks.

And it was that moment, Takeuchi became her best friend.

Eventually, Sarada was enrolled in the academy and began her training. Between her parents' training and extra practice with Takeuchi, Sarada quickly rose to number one in her class. Four years later, she had skipped the two final years and graduated early.

And though she was placed on a different team from Takeuchi, their friendship had stayed close regardless of distance. In fact, he is still a great frequenter at the Uchiha compound with or without Sarada.

"So why did you even move back to your parent's again?" Takeuchi asked absent-mindedly as he rifled through Sarada's box of weapons.

Sarada huffed as she lifted another box from the shelf to the ground and peered at its contents. Of course it was more weapons. "I could've sworn I packed all of these already," she muttered under her breath.

In a little louder voice, she answered her friend's question, "Well, you know that I was assigned on that long mission in Bird—" Takeuchi gave an uncommitted hum of agreement, "—and so it didn't make sense for me to pay for an apartment when I'll be gone for at least a year. So I figured I'd just move my stuff back to the compound."

"And why are you moving out again?"

"I can't stand living at home again! Ugh! I moving back to the complex by the square."

Takeuchi smiled knowingly at the exact problem to her plight and ruffled Sarada's hair, "They mean well. I don't blame your dad though, it's tough fighting off boys."

Sarada glowered, "Ha, ha, very funny. My dad just likes to think every boy, that's not you, is an enemy."

"And he's right to think so."

Sarada huffed.

Despite Sarada's attitude, Sasuke Uchiha did have his work cut out between shooing away his wife (because really, there are scums that overlook the ring on her finger) and his own daughter's (dirty, _dirty_ scums).

Sarada Uchiha blossomed during her twenty-two years of life. Even as a little girl she was adoring with her bright green eyes. Now, as a grown woman, she had no trouble seizing attention where she went. Sarada knew that she was somewhat attractive with her long wavy black hair and viridian eyes. Her stature was similar to that of her mother's where nothing was too big or too small. However, she was well aware that there were more stunning girls like Saiya Yamanaka, Inojin's little sister.

What she was not aware of was that she probably would have gotten the same attention as Saiya Yamanaka if it weren't for her father, Takeuchi, and her teammates Jinjin Hiroshi and Isamu Inuzuka. However, Takeuchi was not about to let Sarada know that for fear of Sasuke Uchiha hunting him down for destroying twenty-two years of life work.

"Anyways," Takeuchi changed the subject merrily, "after we finish moving your stuff, let's go get some Ichiraku! I haven't hung out with you in a while."

Even before her extended mission, Jinjin barely had anytime to spare in between his own missions and his genin team. And Isamu was in the midst of some bizarre two month long training for a super secret move with his canine partner, Baku. And so when Sarada had return, she spent the week throwing herself into reacquainting with her teammates.

Without realizing, she had been neglecting Takeuchi.

Sarada's eyes soften, "Sure."

* * *

Boruto slammed his fist through the wooden pole. Even without chakra, the wooden splintered off into tiny pieces. Still feeling dissatisfied, Bolt continued to kick and punch the stump of wood left on Training Ground Fifteen.

Damn. Damn. _Damn_.

_Damn it to fucking hell_.

Boruto got on to his knees and screamed.

It wasn't suppose to be like this. She wasn't suppose to die. She had plans. And oh god, he had to be the one to tell her fiancé— Boruto wanted to vomit at the thought of Kenji's kind face crumbling at the news.

Kenji did not deserve this.

Chiharu did not deserve this.

_He_ did not deserve this.

"Bolt."

Boruto froze at the voice. He didn't even feel her presence sneak up on him.

"Bolt," again came the soothing voice.

Boruto slowly sat back on his haunches and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He didn't want her to see him like this. Not after he hadn't seen her for months.

"Boruto, sweetheart. Come here."

Boruto's eyes began to glisten as he obeyed the command. His clothes were in tatters as he hadn't bothered changing. The months of dirt, gunk, and disgust had been soaked into his body. He felt ashamed of himself as he lowered himself into the woman's opened arms.

"Ōka-san."

Hinata Uzumaki dutifully began stroking her oldest's hair. At first, Boruto only sunk into his mother's embrace. And then, after a few minutes, sniffles could be heard. It was not longer before her son was clutching onto her yukata, heaving body-shaking sobs.

Hinata only kept stroking his hair.

"Why, Ōka-san? Why did it have to be her? Why? _Why_?"

"I don't know, Bolt," Hinata replied softly. "But all things happen for a reason. No matter how awful it is."

Boruto only gave more sobs.

"Mihara was a lovely girl. And I'm glad you had found great companionship with her," Hinata paused as she waited for Boruto to lessened his sobs, which he did, and she continued, "but she was foremost a shinōbi of the leaf."

Boruto was now hiccuping against his mother's tiny body.

"You, as well as any other shinōbi, knows the line of duty we live by everyday."

Sometimes, our family and friends don't come home.

"And so, it makes the time we have with our loved ones so much more dear. I'm sure Mihara-chan was happily content with the life she had live, with all the memories of you and of Kenji-kun, and the rest of the team."

There was a slight pause as Boruto's breathing had evened out, but his hold on his mother had by no means lessened.

"Does it get easier?" —with all the dying of all the people most dear to your heart?

Hinata smiled sadly, "No. But if it did, we wouldn't be human."

Silence ensued quickly after his mother's statement. It seemed a bit contradictory as he has never seen his mother or father falter at the news of someone they've known as died. His father and mother have been shinōbi for almost thirty years. A feat that was quite impressive as most shinōbis remain on the active roaster for about twenty years before retiring due to injuries or death itself.

And so his parents' list of dead love ones was quite extensive.

"Boruto," his mother started again, "sometimes, it is hard being a father and the hokage at the same time."

Boruto knew this was to ensue. He had only wished his mother had waited a bit.

When Boruto had come home, he went straight to reporting to his father as protocol dictated. However, being his father's son, he had not hesitated telling his father off for sending Mihara on a suicide mission. He was furious, throwing practically everything he has ever done wrong in his father's face. His father merely sat there, stony faced. When Boruto was all but heaving from his shouting, Naruto replied dismissively, "Report here at 1100 hour Friday for a new assignment. See you at home."

Boruto left without another word and vowed he would never see his father again. This was two days ago.

"Your father hasn't left the office since, you know."

_Who cares_, Boruto scoffed inwardly.

"I know you and your father don't spend nearly as much time as you wish you could—" hardly, seeing as he likes to kill his best friends, "—but that is why your father is heavily taking the blame for Mihara's death."

Wait, what?

"Your father had a rough childhood. Everyone scorned him for the Kyuubi inside of him. They called him a monster. And so all he really had were Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi-san."

Boruto reeled from the information. As far as he knew, his father was the esteem hero and everyone loved his cheeky, ever-smiling father. Charismatic and full of great ideas, his father has always been the sight of adoration in his eyes. He would be lying if he denied it to this day. It's just a bit hard living up to the savior of humanity.

"All he really wanted was to have a family, and being the best dad he could be to his children. Being a hokage has made it really hard for him to be here for you every step, but you have to know, Boruto. He tries extremely hard for you."

Boruto swallowed the spit that built up in the back of his throat.

"Since he can't always be there for you, he was extremely happy that Mihara could. And knowing your father, he's probably working himself to the bone as punishment for sending her to her death. He would never want to take away your happiness."

Boruto heard his mother's message loud and clear. His mother really knew how to make him feel guilty and better all at once. It had to be a mother thing because he swore Shikadai both loved and fear his.

"Where is Otōu-san?"

Hinata gently smiled and pulled her son to his feet, "You know where."

Boruto smiled and gave his mom an embraced.

"Thank you, Ōka-san. I'll be home in a bit."

* * *

When Sarada and Takeuchi arrived at Ichiraku a few hours later, the sun was setting nicely over the horizon. The low chatter from passerbys and the candle lit shop lanterns flickered on quickly contributed to Konoha's beautiful summer evenings.

"Sarada-chan! Takeuchi-chan! So nice to see you younglings after so long!" Ayame, the shop owner, called as they entered the little shop.

The said younglings bowed. "It is so nice to see you again too, Ayame-san," Sarada added politely.

Ayame waved them off with a slight blush on her face, "It's nothing! So polite, like your father and mother, Sarada-chan. No need to be so formal. And what did I tell you about calling me Ayame-ōba-san*!"

Sarada blushed at the compliment, "Hai, Ayame-ōba-san."

With that, Ayame had all but ushered them into the few booths that littered the restaurant. Though Ichiraku had been rebuilt over the years, Ayame decided to honor her late father and kept the shop small. And though the popularity of the ramen to continue to grow, the small restaurant only expanded to accommodate fifteen at most. The shop was still square, but unlike before, the ramen bar had stools lined around three sides, while Ayame and her husband served from all sides in the middle.

Sarada and Takeuchi seated at the end on the left side. Unfortunately, however, the minute they had gotten settled, a chūnin arrived to call Takeuchi away for a pressing mission.

"Are you serious? You can tell Naruto-ōjji** to shove it," Sarada puffed.

Takeuchi smiled apologetically at the chūnin receiving the misplaced anger of an Uchiha and reached out to ruffle Sarada's hair, "Sorry, bud. Duty calls. Raincheck when I get back?"

Sarada frowned and nodded reluctantly.

With that, Takeuchi took off with the dumb chūnin and Sarada pouted. It was completely unfair that when they finally had time to hang out and catch up, a blasted mission comes up. If she ever sees—

"Mind if I join you?"

Sarada looked up to see her father already sliding in Takeuchi's old seat.

"Ōtou-san?" she asked in surprised, "What are you doing here?"

Sasuke merely skimmed the menu before off-handingly saying, "I'm meeting with Naruto for a dinner."

Ah. His father's monthly bro-dinner with the hokage.

When Sarada was younger, it was typical to see Naruto-ōjji at the Uchiha-compound. Afterall, they saved humanity together. If that did not cemented friendship than Sarada did not know what did. And sometimes, he would bring his wife and son over if work permitted. His wife was part of the senior counsel for the Hyūga clan and so between helping Hanabi-sama run her original clan, being the first lady of Konoha, and her wild son and newborn daughter, Hinata-sama was hardly seen at the compound.

However, the few times that she had come, Sarada was forced to interact with Boruto. Needlessly to say, having an immature Uchiha and Uzumaki together for an unspecific amount of time together only led to the destruction of the courtyard. Meaning, someone was _always_ crying.

And it definitely was not her.

Eventually, family gatherings became difficult and only Naruto-ōjji could afford to take work off for a few hours once a month. And so Sarada never had to see Boruto anymore. Until the academy.

When the academy time came around, Boruto and Sarada was placed in the same class as many of their family friends (apparently Rookie Nine got busy all at once). However, after a month, they both found themselves in two different classes permanently.

Sasuke Uchiha was a proud man when he received news that his daughter had thrashed the hokage's son and was forced to separate into a different class.

Needlessly to say, Sarada and Boruto never really saw each other after that. Though the academy was small, it was large enough to keep them from running into each other. When they had made genin, it was already normal for academy friends to never see each other after that due to the sheer number of missions each genin team took up. And when they were not on missions, they were training.

When Sarada really thought about it, it had to have been about eight years since she had seen in passing the little Prince of Konoha and a good fifteen years since she had talked to him.

Funny how childhood prejudices can really shape a person's life.

"Oi! Teme!"

"Dobe."

Sarada, still staring off into space, rolled her eyes at the rehearsed greeting between the supposedly most dangerous men of all time.

"Do you mind if my son joins us? I haven't had much time with him lately."

Sarada's eyes snapped up to see the hokage and his son, both dirty and sweaty, walk up to their seats. Much to her surprised, Boruto looked just like the pictures of his father when he was younger. It was startling.

She was not looking at Boruto the snotty brat who stuck gum in her when she was not looking, but Boruto the _man_ whom she knew nothing about anymore. Time had passed by more quickly than she had thought.

Sasuke merely shrugged his shoulder as if to say he would not mind. And Naruto smiled as he and his son took up the adjacent seats.

"Konichiwa***, Sasuke-ōjji-san," a deep voice cheerfully, but respectfully greeted her father.

Sasuke gave a nod, "Konichiwa, Boruto."

Suddenly, Sarada caught Boruto's incredibly blue eyes as his attention switched to her. At first, it seemed as though he was analyzing her, but as quick as the wind, he gave a bright polite smile, "Sarada-san, it's been a while hasn't it?"

"It has," Sarada agreed politely. God, this felt stifling.

"Dobe, why do you smell like sewer?"

Thank god for fathers.

Naruto grinned cheekily and laughed deeply as he wound his arm around his son, pulling them closer, "Well, Boruto and I were having a scuffle. And like real men, we settled it with our fists."

To which, Boruto replied by rolling his eyes and playfully, with feigned reluctance, fist bumping his father.

_Boys_, Sarada thought with great exasperation.

Taking that as her cue to leave, Sarada stirred to leave. However, before she could fully rise, Sasuke stopped her with a look.

"Sarada, stay. You've yet to eat dinner."

"Yeah!" Naruto-ōjji chimed in. "And if I'm not correct, you haven't seen Bolt in a while! Come—" Sarada was unceremoniously grabbed by the hokage and dumped in his spot while he took her original chair by her father, "—and reacquaint yourself while I have some old man talk with your father!"

Sarada pointedly regarded her father with a look that clearly said you-only-want-me-to-say-because-you-couldn't-possibly-handled-_two_-Uzumakis-at-dinner, which he pointedly ignored as he sipped his tea.

Bastard.

"Naruto-ōjji, if you touch me again, I will not hesitate to kill you."

Naruto flinched.

Sasuke beamed.

"Hai hai, Sarada-chan," Naruto smiled uneasily. Hokage or not, Uchihas always carried through with their threats.

With that, the hokage turned to her father and began enthusiastically retelling what had happened at this year's Kage's Summit. Sarada rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe this dobe was the savior of humanity.

"So this is awkward, huh?" Boruto laughed.

Sarada turned her calculating eyes back to her childhood enemy. Typically, she was not so rude to stranger, but her history with him begged her be so. However, why should she let old childhood rivalries better her. She was a woman now. There was no need for such hostilities.

"It is, isn't it?" Sarada smiled politely.

And then there was silence.

Boruto simply continued staring at her, completely fascinated, while Sarada folded and refolded her napkin.

"So—"

"Well—"

Both of them paused and Sarada quickly flushed. Since when did she even blush for a boy?

"How have you been?" Boruto asked quickly before the silence would come back.

"Well," Sarada replied, "I just came back from a long term mission."

"How long?"

"About a year."

"Ah," Boruto sighed compassionately, "feels good to be back, huh?"

"Yeah," Sarada smiled as she looked back out to the streets. "Can't be without Konoha too long."

A welcomed, content silence followed this time as the pair watched the evening grow darker. Konoha was just as lovely at night as the day.

"You have a beautiful smile."

Sarada, use to the sort of compliment from lechers, merely raised her eyebrow at him.

Boruto shrugged offhandedly as he continued staring at her, "Sakura-ōba-san's smile has been said to mend hearts. And you have her exact smile, dimples and all."

Not knowing what to say, Sarada instead said, "Do you know my mother well?"

"See her all the time," Boruto smiled brightly. "Someone's gotta keep me alive with all the suicide missions my old man sends me on."

And then with a lowered serious voice, Boruto whispered, "I swear, he's trying to kill me. I think he only loves Himawari."

Sarada simply just stared at him.

Were all Uzumakis weird? Surely, Himawari Uzumaki was normal. Or cursed with the existence of such men in her life.

Luckily, she was saved from commenting on Boruto's statement with the arrival of their food.

Boruto, who hadn't seem to mind (or had deduced why) the lack of conversation from Sarada's side, barreled on to a new topic about the different types of weaponry in the countries he's been. Sarada, who was more comfortable with the change in topic, gladly added her two cents.

Before long, the night came to a close and the pair were considerably more friendly than they were fifteen years ago.

"Well then, Boruto-san," Sarada said as she wiped the tears from her eyes after Boruto's tale about two bandits, a stray dog, and an aglet, "I think I'm going to go. I have a team training session in the morning that I think I should get some shut eye for."

"Call me Bolt," Boruto smiled brightly. "And it was nice remeeting you!"

Sarada smiled and turned to her father to give him a kiss, "Bye, Ōtou-san! See you tomorrow night for dinner!"

And as quick as the wind, she was gone.

With that, the men that remained merely stared at one another.

Naruto quickly clapped Sasuke on the back, "I told you my kid would be perfect!"

Sasuke merely gave his old friend a look and fixed Boruto with a look. Boruto, use to Sasuke's stares, was unease to find this one different from his usual looks.

"No flirting. Ever."

Boruto quickly nodded.

"Tch," Sasuke looked away angrily and begrudgingly gave a nod to the hokage, "I've never seen her un-guard herself as fast as she did with anyone but Takeuchi."

Boruto smiled politely, "Takeuchi talks about her a lot. I had a lot of information to go on."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "Are you playing with my daughter?"

Boruto restiffened, "No sir. I just meant that— I mean— ack!"

Naruto watched as his heir played straight into his best friend's trap. His son was such an idiot.

"What he means is, Teme," Naruto smartly interjected, "is that he had help with easing Sarada-chan's guarded personality."

Sasuke merely sulked and mumbled under his breath, "He didn't have to tell her that her smile was beautiful."

Naruto rolled his eyes, _over-protective fathers_.

"Head home, Boruto," he told his son. "Tell your mother I'll be home in a bit. I still have to discuss some more with your Sasuke-ōjji-san here."

Boruto gave a nod, utter a respectful farewell to Sasuke, and made haste to leave the scene.

"How is it," Sasuke gave Naruto a look, "that your son is so polite and yet you lack manners."

Naruto scoffed, "Please. I have manners!"

"Like an elephant. Thank god for Hinata."

"Take that back!"

"No."

"_Teme_."

"_Dobe._"

There was a slight tense pause before both men smiled (though Sasuke's was significantly smaller) at each other.

"Man," Naruto laughed. "Insults! My favorite monthly pastime!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Where did you send Takeuchi?"

Naruto gave a devious smile, "Well, remember the Daimyo princess that wanted you, Takeuchi, and Shikadai to accompany her and her daughter in the Kantōu district?"

Sasuke shuddered at the thought of that flamboyant lady reducing to a mere fangirl in front of him the last time they've met.

"Well, she kicked such a fuss when she was assigned a chūnin that I decided to give her Takeuchi."

Sasuke chuckled, "Poor boy."

"It worked out. We needed to assess her and Takeuchi would've only gotten in the way."

Sasuke grew silent at the statement.

"Hey," Naruto bumped his shoulder with Sasuke's, "she'll be okay. Have faith in her."

Sasuke continued staring at the direction his daughter now resided.

"Yeah," he said softly.

* * *

"How does this look?" a shrilled voice all but purred.

Somewhere in the Kantōu shopping district, Takeuchi was plotting the hokage's death.

* * *

*Ōba-san means auntie

**Ōjji-san means uncle

***Konichiwa means good evening

**A/N:** Sorry, this chapter is sort of a filler. However, it's twice as long! I promise the next one will be more exciting! Merry Christmas!


	5. Chapter Four: Impending Doom

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.  
**Author:** iamwildatheart

* * *

**The Elite  
**_Chapter Four_  
Impending Doom

* * *

Boruto hesitated.

"Enter, Boruto."

Wincing slightly at the use of his full first name, Boruto did as he commanded. His father, Naruto Uzumaki, was the savior of the world. He was the king of toads, had probably saved Konoha from complete destruction fifty-billion times, and most likely is the strongest ninja in the world. But something about him sitting there at his wooden desk with dark circles around his eyes made Boruto remember that his father was merely a man. A man who had given everything for his village, for his friends, for his son.

Suddenly, Boruto felt extra guilty.

"Is there something you would like to talk about?"

Shifting his weight from his left to his right, Bolt tried to find the right words to say.

"I'm—"

Boruto frowned. _'I'm sorry I was an awful son these past two days. Forgive me?'_ That even sounded stupid to himself.

Another approach.

"About Miha—"

But before he could finish, Naruto stood up suddenly and walked towards the door.

"Come on."

Boruto furrowed his eyebrows but did not question his father. They quickly exited the hokage tower and Naruto immediately took to the roofs. Halfway there, Bolt realized his father was taking him to the training grounds, specifically training ground three.

Arriving to the open field, Naruto immediately swiveled around and aimed a punch at where Boruto's head was. Well, where it _use_ to be, seeing as Boruto immediately ducked at his father's crazy antics.

"What the actual fuck, dad?" Boruto exclaimed as he blocked his father's kick to his stomach.

Refusing to answer, Naruto merely twisted his body and swung his remaining leg at his son's face. And because his son was an idiot, it actually landed and Boruto went flying down the open field. Quickly using the momentum, he flipped on his feet and skidded to a stop.

Boruto narrowed his eyes at his father. Naruto merely shifted to a defensive position.

_Fine_, Bolt thought, _if he wants to fight, he'll get one._

With that, the Elitest bolted towards his father. What began afterwards would have been a blur to a spectator eying the fight. Whatever Boruto threw at his father, Naruto blocked with ease. Every once in a while though, Naruto would switch to offensive and Boruto found himself struggling to keep up with his father. After tumbling from one of his father's blow for the nth time, Bolt could feel the frustration building to the boiling point. Until finally, Boruto let out a growl and retaliated against his father with newfound ferocity. He was finally matching his father's speed.

And then, he landed his first hit.

Naruto had not seen it, and when he finally realized where Boruto's fist was aiming, all he could do was turn his cheek and neutralize the blow. Boruto, immediately horrified at the sight of his father's now bruised cheek, frozed in one spot.

After what seemed like an eternity, Naruto straight up and turned his face to see his son.

"Ōtou-san, I—" Boruto started.

"Boruto," Naruto's voice rumbled as he interrupted his son, "_I_ am sorry."

Naruto gave his son a sad smile and continued, "I know that I haven't been the best father. Between running a village and the family, I find myself always only being able to devote my time to the village. I told myself, if I can't be there for my family always, then I'll make a village that can."

Shifting his eyes to the two new memorial stones added due to the casualties of Pein's invasion and the last great war, Naruto gazed fondly at the second stone. At the top, the first name to be engraved was his master.

"When Jiraiya died, I felt like I was suffocating. No one that was so close to my heart had ever died before. And the pain felt unbareable. I've never told anyone this before, but I even briefly contemplated suicide."

Boruto quickly inhaled at the information. Suicide was the highest form of shame for shinōbi. To willingly terminate yourself before finishing your duty to your village was considered cowardly. You were better off being marked as a traitor than a suicider. Hence why the White Fang was so infamous.

"However, after Iruka-sensei and Shikamaru talked to me, I felt better. His death, though still painful, had felt less intense and stabbing. After that, it took a long time before it felt like I could breathe again, but it came."

Naruto looked back at his son, "I won't pretend to understand the dynamics of your's and Mihara, since I am not you. But I can understand what it is like to lose someone so close to your heart. And you, my son, I—"

Naruto faltered momentarily at the words he was going to say, "—I would never want to hurt you that way. And—And I'm sorry that Mihara had to die."

Boruto recognized the shame in his father's eyes. The Savior of the World was apologizing to the World's Most Rotten Son. Boruto wanted to smack himself for making his father feel this way.

"You're an idiot," Boruto muttered.

Well, so much for making his dad feel better.

"You're the fucking hokage. You choose the best ninja for each mission, so that the probability of survival is maximized. And when Mihara—" Boruto felt the pain in his chest, "—died, that only means any one else would have had a zero percent chance of survival. Mihara died as an honored Konohagakure shinōbi. You were doing your job. Don't be sorry for — ACK!"

Naruto had suddenly grabbed Boruto and began vigorously rubbing his head.

"Bolt!" Naruto cried with tears in his eyes, "When did you become so wise? Your father is becoming so old!"

Immediately, Naruto found a new bump on his head.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW? YOU ARE RUINING A FATHER-SON MOMENT, YOU STUPID OLD MAN!"

Naruto began wailing and Boruto merely rolled his eyes at their relationship. No matter how old his father is, he can act like a child. Sighing, Boruto wondered briefly how on earth did his beautiful mother fall for such a moron.

"Bolt."

Boruto turned at the serious tone his father addressed him with.

"I meant to talk to you about this Friday, but an opportunity has arise."

Friday? Boruto tried to recall what his father said about friday. Right. A mission briefing.

"I know it is early, but Mihara's spot must be filled," his father said as he motioned Boruto to follow in his steps. "We must begin training a new recruit as soon as possible."

Boruto felt a little angry at the thought of Mihara's spot being taken too soon, but also understood the gravity of the situation. With all the attacks on border towns in Fire, it was quite possible the entire Elite team would be employed to investigate whoever that is stupid enough to mess with Konoha.

"Have you thought of a candidate?" Bolt questioned his father.

At this point, they were reentering civilization and the civilians began greeting the honored family.

"Yes, we're actually on our way to Ichiraku to intercept with the candidate so you can meet. Initially, I recommended Inojin. However, he respectfully declined."

Excluding the academy days, Boruto could recall a handful of times he had teamed up with him where Inojin displayed an incredible amount of skill in interrogation and ink ninpōu. However, he was not surprised Inojin had declined the offer. Inojin is a very practical man, one that understood the survival training percentages of the Elite.

"So, I have decided on Sarada—"

Boruto easily shivered at the name.

To say they were sworn enemies was to put their relationship with one another lightly. Boruto can vividly recall the roundhouse kicked that graced his face when he had made fun of her glasses.

Idly, Boruto rubbed the spot as he wince at the memory. His young self had not understood what 'word filtering' meant.

However, even with the separation between the two, Sarada Uchiha was very well one of the favorite piece of gossip among the villagers and his teammates. Though Sasuke and Sakura had made their own legends with the feats they have accomplished, Sarada became famous on her own with just as many feats to own up to her parents. This, of course, included being the only person that has ever made Boruto cry.

And so even though they necessarily have not _talked_ to each other in years, Boruto was more than aware of who she was.

"—and I want you to train her."

Wait.

"_What_?" Boruto swiveled to face his father at the thought of something so—so—_so incredulous_. "Are you crazy? We'll kill each other!"

Naruto frowned at his son, "When you last worked together, you were mere children. You are now both adult. I expect that you will be professional about this."

Immediately, his father's face flashed a smile at a familiar shop keeper, who initiated the greeting, before reverting back to seriousness. Boruto knew that what his father was saying was true, but he could not help but felt weary of the idea. He was the second newest member before Takeuchi and has never taught anyone in his life before. To add his childhood enemy in to the mix was not something he was keen to try.

"Besides," Naruto gave his son a wink, "I hear she's quite a sight. Maybe you'll finally get yourself a girlfriend!"

Boruto merely slid his hand down his face in response.

* * *

Sarada could not contain her excitement.

She, a newly promoted jōnin, recruited to the Elite? It made her swell with all sorts of pride. And though her excitement ran high, Sarada was also practical enough to understand the risk of accepting the invitation.

She was not an Elitest yet. She was just an Elite _trainee_.

But that alone had her giggling.

"Do you realize how scary you look when you do that?"

Sarada shot Isamu a look of annoyance.

"Seriously," he repeated as his canine partner, Baku, sniffed the wreckage. "You're mashing up boulders and chucking trees to all the way to Suna while releasing high pitch squeals. Makes me wonder how sane you are."

"You're so funny," Sarada retorted as she threw the branch she had in her hand at her teammate. Instead of dodging, Baku ran to catch it and brought it back to Sarada, as if they were playing an oversized version of fetch. Sarada began rubbing behind Baku's ears absentmindedly.

"Why did you call me out here today?" Isamu asked as he plopped himself beside Baku.

"Just to hang out, I guess," Sarada replied. The truth was, she was leaving in a few hours to meet with her handler. She had already said goodbye to Jinjin that morning and wanted to do the same for Isamu. She just could not bring herself to mention it just yet.

Isamu, being her long time teammate, had not believed her lie as to where she will be during the next few months but did not continue pressing the matter. All shinōbis had their secrets.

So, instead, he decided to sprawl his body, purposely to knock his teammate to the ground, and began chattering about his day. Sarada, used to Isamu's constant jabber, half-listened and began watching the clouds. A hobby, at the suggestion from Shikamaru, she picked up.

"I accepted an apprenticeship with ANBU," Sarada stated suddenly before Isamu finished his tale.

"Wait, seriously?" Isamu turned his head to watch Sarada's face. Unable to face him, she began to slowly nod. Isamu immediately frowned.

"How long?" he asked.

"Three months."

"You just got back!" Isamu bursted as he jolted up and stared accusingly at Sarada. Slowly, Sarada's eyes made contact with his own and saw the anger dissipate. She had not want to leave so soon either.

"I know."

Isamu slowly sank back to his knees and Baku came trotting by nuzzling his neck. Before Sarada knew it, he reached out and grabbed her hand.

"When?"

"Soon." _In a few hours._

Isamu tightened his grip. Sarada's hand had started to hurt, but she ignored the feeling in favor of watching her teammate's reaction. She and Isamu had held hands a number of times; be it infiltration missions where they played their parts, in fact they even had to kiss a few times, or when he had to drag her to her feet after training to exhaustion. But never had he grabbed her when it was unnecessary. And so this was certainly odd experience for her.

"Sarada."

Sarada tensed at her teammate's intonation. Sarada has always been one to read voices. The amount of fervor he had said her name was the same way her father says her mother's name. And all too quickly, she knew where the conversation was headed.

Sarada stood up and dusted herself off, effectively making Isamu release his hold on her.

"I have to go," Sarada gave a sad smile, "I leave in an hour. I'll see you when I get back, okay?"

And without waiting for his response, she disappeared with a swirl of wind.

* * *

Sarada was incredibly stacked.

Boruto nearly spilled his coffee over his lap as he read her IQ. It almost rivaled Shikamaru-ōjji. And if that was not incredible enough, she had became a certified field medic-nin before she was a genin and was Mirai-sensei's direct successor, making her a phenomenal genjutsu specialist.

Boruto continued perusing through her file until he caught on to an interesting detail. Her mankegōu sharingan.

In a freak accident, while returning home after a two-man squad mission with her sensei, an unaffiliated shinōbi had ambushed them. As the fight ensued, Sarada had used chidori to finish her attack. However, as she made contact, her sensei had leap behind the enemy and was impaled as well. She had done so to keep the enemy shinōbi from stabbing Sarada with the kunai hidden behind his back. Sarada was sixteen years old.

_Sweet Kami_, Boruto cringed, _she was a walking tragedy_.

Leaning back, Boruto absentmindedly rubbed the blonde stubble on his chin. How to come up with a training regime. How to, how to, how to..

"Ugh," Boruto vigorously rubbed his head, "I don't know how to be a handler!"

"Hey."

In an incredibly girlish squeal, Boruto fell off his chair at the newcomer's voice. Takeuchi rolled his eyes. Seriously? This guy was his senior?

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" Boruto sputtered as he regathered his papers.

"We're shinōbi, Bolt. It's what we do," Takeuchi replied deadpanned.

Boruto merely turned a shade of pink and started stuffing the papers into a folder.

"I hear you're taking on a subordinate," Takeuchi commented offhandedly. "Neverminding you screaming about not knowing how to be a handler, Hokage-sama told me first. But he won't tell me who."

"Well, it's sort of classified until the person is officially instated into the squad."

"If I know Hokage-sama, it's Inojin."

Inwardly, Boruto smirked. He was so close, but no cigar.

"We'll see," he said offhandedly.

"It's going to be a train wreck!" Takeuchi mocked. Boruto promptly threw a book at his head. Unfortunately, shinōbis are graceful creatures, and Takeuchi passively caught it.

"Anyways, I got to go. I'm meeting up with Chiharu to see if she can help out," Boruto said as he started for the windows.

Takeuchi frowned, "I thought we were suppose to go over the plans for the scouting mission."

"Can't. I'm meeting with my trainee in a couple of hours and I need advice," Boruto said before his smile curled into a smirk. "Besides, aren't you suppose to be accompanying the Fire Daimyo's granddaughters?"

Takeuchi braced his hands against the sides of the window and aimed a kick at Boruto's back to vault him out. Boruto merely laughed as he clanked on the nearest rooftop and continued on his merry way.

Scowling, the black haired shinōbi trudged to his impending torture as a shopping bag hanger.

* * *

Sarada was a bit flustered if she was to be honest with herself. However, her reputation as a cool and collected spit-fire was soon to be shot to hell if she did not get her act together before her handler was suppose to come. She has to focus one hundred percent on this or else she wouldn't be able to make it. And if she didn't make it, it would shame her father.

Sarada would have to be blind if she did not know half the looks she got were vengeful. And she would also be deaf if she did not hear the nasty things they say about her father too. She knew very well of her father's past. He had not wanted her to make the same mistakes as he had.

_I was lost_, he would say. _Lost without a clue of what I was suppose to do._

And though she had worked twice as hard, she can still feel the stares burning into her father's back. The hatred, the anger—

"Whoa, what's with the face?"

Sarada smoothed her face to a look of indifference as she regarded the new presence on training ground thirty-four. Boruto stood in front of her with an easy going smile and his right hand massaging his neck, as if there was a kink in it.

"Nothing," Sarada replied smoothly, offering a polite smile. "What are you doing here, Boruto?"

"Well, I just left thirty-three and I was passing by when I saw you. Just thought to see what you're up to," Boruto admitted. Well, technically he had just left Shikadai's house, but he had to cross through training ground thirty-three from the Nara Forest to get to thirty-four.

"Oh, I'm just waiting for my captain to come. We're suppose to map out our route for this upcoming mission," Sarada answered.

Boruto inwardly smile at the lie. What a practical explanation. It would explain her three-month absence and no one could ask who her partner was because protocol dictates the ANBU captain of any mission to be withheld from anyone but the squad and hokage.

"Ah, what time was he or she suppose to meet up with you?"

"Not for another half hour."

_Great_, Boruto thought, _I can work with this_.

"Well, then would you care for a spar?"

Sarada turned the offer around in her head. Her trainer was not suppose to show up for another hour. And she had planned on getting some of her frustration out via training before she was going to leave. Training with someone is always better than training by yourself. Besides, she hasn't fought against Boruto in years.

"Sure," Sarada smiled. "Rules?"

Boruto merely threw some hand signs and scribbled with something down on the ground.

Sarada narrowed her eyes as she recognized the techique. _He can use fūinjutsu. Dangerous. You never know what's in a seal._

A circle glowed about one hundred meters around them.

Boruto straightened up, "There are no rules except to knock the other person out of the ring. Sounds good?"

Sarada smiled, "Sounds great." And then smashed her fist down to the ground, erupting the ground all around them.

Boruto nonchalantly backflipped onto a rising pile of dirt and mockingly smiled down at the Uchiha, "Is that all you can do?"

Sarada, completely unsurprised that the hokage's son was able to evade her starting attack so easily, merely started on her next attack.

"Katōn: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!*"

Boruto had already known she was a fire and lightning nature. And so he was prepared to counter the signature Uchiha clan technique.

"Suitōn: Hahonryū no Jutsu.**"

Immediately, Boruto began rapidly firing at the growing fireball Sarada emitted from her mouth. And though her gōkakyu technique was pumped with a decent amount of chakra, water will always beat out fire if used correctly.

Air grows moist and a thick fog falls on the training ground; so thick, that Sarada was unable to see the afternoon sun. She activated her third-level sharingan. Apprehension builds inside her as she concentrates on any sudden movements.

Right? Nothing.

Left? Bare.

Back? Nada.

Front? Zilch.

Up? Nope.

So that left one choice, he was below. But before she could counter, Boruto appeared out of thin air to her right, aiming a kick to ribs. Boruto, seasoned to be quick as he was, honestly felt he could have been faster. Sarada, seasoned not be as fast as goddamn light, only managed to awkwardly threw her hands up and neutralized the kick somewhat. She felt her ribs fracture.

Rolling to a crouch, Sarada switches to Mangekyō. Immediately, her arms braced her face as Boruto's forearm makes contact. Sarada directed her chakra to where Boruto made contact before he fractured her ulna too.

And soon, the fight develops to a strict taijutsu spar.

Boruto was fast. Even with her mangekyō, she can see Boruto move, but her body was too slow to counter. This eventually left her feeling very sore and frustrated until she began throwing in a couple of more katōns and genjutsu. Despite the revival of ninjutsu in the spar, Boruto strictly stuck to taijutsu, countering every one of her techniques.

And with the handicap he placed on himself, he was still beating her ass.

When Sarada forgot the objective in mind, Boruto merely off balanced her with a poke and she tripped out of the blue ring, signaling Boruto's win. Sarada wanted to scream and hit something. Preferably Boruto's face.

But knowing that she couldn't, she settled for stomping on his feet.

"What the fuck was that for!" Boruto cried out in pain as he hopped around on one foot.

Sarada simply sniffed and began healing her own wounds. The hokage's son can walk to the hospital with his broken wrist, dislocated shoulder, second degree burns, and now crushed foot on his own.

"You need to go. My captain should be coming any minute now," Sarada said tartly.

"I can't," Boruto gritted his teeth as he examined his foot.

"And why not."

"Because _I'm_ your handler for the next three months. And this _spar_ was your assessment."

Boruto then straightened up with a brilliant smile and Sarada simply threw all her lady-like manners out the window.

"Oh, _fuck no_."

* * *

*Katōn: Gōkakyū no Jutsu means Fire Release: The Great Fireball Technique.  
It's traditional fireball technique that all Uchihas learn in their youth. The same one that Sasuke uses throughout the series.

**Suitōn: Hahonryū no Jutsu means Water Release: Tearing Torrent.  
Yamato used this technique in shippuden where you swirl water in your hand and fire them away.

A/N: I try to keep this close to the Naruto-verse as possible. So techniques, geographical locations, and nature affinities, etc. coincide with the information you find on Narutopedia. If I can anything wrong, don't be afraid to message me and tell me otherwise (except for Sarada's eyes, I want them to be green just so there's a little Sakura in her. In this story, she was born with dark, dark green eyes and they lightened as she grew up).

Happy January!


	6. Chapter Five: Beyond Amused

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.  
**Author:** iamwildatheart

* * *

**The Elite  
**_Chapter Five_  
Beyond Amused

* * *

The leaves rustled and Sarada immediately swirled around armed with a kunai. Seconds passed by and a rabbit scurried out of the bush, making a mad dash for its burrow. Sarada made a screech of frustration and continued on with her search.

The wild, feral look in her eyes had said it all. She was dirty, tired, and ready to kill her handler the minute he dared to show his face.

_Elitest do the impossible_, he said. _Finding a needle in a haystack is impossible_, he said. And he was literal about it. So now here she was on a wild goose chase, trying to find a red needle somewhere in the Fire Country. _You'll know it, when you see it_, he said.

Then he failed to mention that he would be sending every known rogue ninja roaming around in Fire Country after her. And when the number of rogue assassin attempts abated, Boruto himself decided he was bored and would "recreationally spar" (read: actively try to end her life) with her.

The last time she slept was two months ago. And Sarada liked her sleep.

Therefore, Boruto Uzumaki was a dead man.

"Bolt!" Sarada snarled as she suddenly sensed his presence up above. "I'm going to _kill_ you!"

However, Boruto simply did not leave his hiding spot. Sarada immediately activated her sharingan. Where she thought Boruto was, she saw a veil of his chakra. Genjutsu. Eyes narrowed, Sarada dispelled it. Reading the way the chakra dispelled, she knew he must have casted it recently. Perhaps within the past hour or so. She continued tracking him.

She was close. So close to ending this god-awful, idiotic training regime.

* * *

After finding out Boruto was her handler, Sarada was immediately bounded and blinded. Out of nowhere, she felt her body warp for less than a millisecond and stop. Sarada knew that she had just been transported to a new location using the Yondaime's signature jutsu— Hiraishin no Jutsu*. She had read about it in her Konoha History class back at the academy. Though, as far as she was concerned, the seal for the Flying Thunder God technique was destroyed when the village was crushed during the Pain Invasion. No one had successfully replicated the seal.

Until now.

Though surely impressed at the success in replicating the technique of a fuinjutsu master, Sarada could not find herself appreciating Boruto when she had felt herself hit the ground.

"As you know, I'm your handler for the next three months—" Boruto started.

"Whoop-dee-_fuckin_'-doo," Sarada muttered under her breath.

"—and so I get to decide on training regime to help induct you into the Elite force, should you pass."

A slight pause.

"Based on your evaluation and records, for the next three months, we will focus on one thing per month. Against Elitest, you would be a formidable shinōbi. However, in the end, the fight will tip in their favor. You lack emotional control, speed, and sensor skills."

Sarada felt like everything she had worked hard for smack her face.

And her anger could not be justifiably angled at Boruto for saying those things because they were painfully clear in her spar with Boruto. However, no matter how true it was, that did not meant Sarada had to like being told so.

"For this first month, I've been called away on a pressing mission."

Okay. Hold the fuck up.

"You mean to tell me, that as my handler, you're not even going to handle me for this first month?" Sarada all but yelled. Then, as a side thought, she casually added, "Also this blindfold and binding thing is getting annoying. Can you take it off, please?"

"I cannot take those off. It's part of your first month's training," Boruto answered pleasantly. "And because I am being called away, I've asked for a substitute for me during this first month. I will check in when I can, but I doubt it will be more than once or twice. This person will be working on your emotional control."

Suddenly, a presence skirted in the edges of her senses.

"Hello," a polite voice called out. "I hope this next month works out for the both of us."

"Good luck," and Boruto departed.

That month was pure hell for Sarada. It was suddenly clear to Sarada why most Elite trainees came back insane. Not even the blindfold could erase the images seared into her mind.

Whoever the substitute for Boruto was must have been either highly skilled in invasive mind techniques or was a Yamanaka. He had probably brought back all her guilt and anguish and made her relive the moments until they made her numb.

Hunger, thirst, and biological pain could not surmount the mental strain she relived every day.

And once when her memories were exhausted, she lived through memories of war.

Sarada was a seasoned shinōbi. She ranked jōnin and had taken on ANBU twice, once at fourteen for a year and reinstated again at eighteen, for a total of nearly five years before now. She has killed in warm blood, cold blood, and every other type of blood there was.

It was the way of the shinōbi. To kill or be killed.

However, the mass slaughter of all the great shinōbi wars were a level on its own. Thousands upon thousands of individuals fighting for their lives amongst chaos. The pure hunger for blood, the crimson stained murals, and the sight of taking a life for the reasons of "just because" became ingrained in her mind. Sarada felt her head explode the the raw emotions from the memories of war.

Find. Target. Kill.

A mantra she had become accustom to as the same pattern emerged from the memories of past soldiers.

As for her substitute handler, Sarada had never feared anyone as she had that man. Not once was Sarada allowed to remove her blindfold. For thirty straight days, she was left in darkness and terrorizing memories. She had sobbed, attempted killing herself, and begged him to stop the stream of mental pain. And throughout the process for twenty-four hours, seven days a week, for more than four weeks, the steely man watched her suffered with iron silence.

When Boruto came to pick her up for her second month of training, he found her deep in a cavern, brooding in a similar manner he's seen Sasuke-ōjji gesture in old team pictures with his father.

"Yo," Boruto greeted cheerily, throwing up an arm.

Sarada, on the other, had made no gesture to indicate she had heard him.

"So I know I said I would visit a few times," Boruto continued unaffected, "_but_ there was this complication in the mission and there was this side mini-mission with a cat—But not like an average cat, no like this massive saber-tooth tiger cat that—"

"Miyuki."

Boruto immediately shut his mouth at the soft-spoken word Sarada said.

_Oh dear_, he thought. _Maybe she has gone off her rocker. Sasuke-ōjji's totally going to kill_—

"Takiwa Miyuki from Kumogakure. He's an information broker with direct merchant dealings in Lightning. He has a side hobby, however, in collecting exotic animals as pets. Tachi-san, a saber tooth tiger from the Land of Hot Water, was one of them. However, Tachi-san is known to wander off and terrorize nearby villages when Miyuki isn't keeping an eye on him."

Sarada paused and Boruto offered silence.

"The rubble steaks across your sandals are unmistakably from the lava rocks from Kumo. You have a slash wound on your right rib area. The standard one medic-nin per team should have been able to take care of that. However, your mission probably called for stealth."

Sarada turned her viridian eyes to meet Boruto's suddenly emotionless eyes.

"You were in Lightning for a scouting mission. You're a stealth specialist."

A long stretch of silence ensued Sarada's revelation. Boruto neither made a claim to deny or confirm her statement. Instead, he sized her up critically from her crouched position.

Sarada's clothes could have seen better days. Her muscles were taut, almost from over use.

_Probably from clenching_, Boruto thought.

Continuing on his assessment, Sarada had deep bags under her eyes like most trainees whom survived the first month. They sunk deep into her sickeningly pale skin. However, her viridian eyes burn straight into Boruto's without falter.

Eyes that shown neither the wavering or deranged mental state of the tortured. Eyes of a mentally disciplined warrior.

Boruto looked away and motioned for Sarada to follow.

She had nailed the first and hardest phase of the Elite training.

* * *

Foliage continued blocking her vision in a way that should be comforting, seeing as she is from Konoha, but was momentarily irritating because it consistently obscured her target a little bit_ too_ well.

An hour has passed since she last caught a chakra trail on Boruto. And there was still no sign of him as it was coming to a cold dead end.

It was entirely too frustrating as there was just no way in hell she was going to give up when she was _this_ close to nailing the _motherfuc_—

"Boo."

Despite inwardly squirming at the gust of air and sudden proximity near her ear, Sarada merely twisted her body in an attempt to stab Boruto with a kunai. And in accordance with the usual script, Boruto gracefully leapt out of harms way with his usual grace.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," he mocked with condescendence. "Is that any way to greet your superior?"

Sarada, being one of the few shinōbis nowadays that couldn't be bothered with conversations during battles, grunted and ricocheted off the nearest branch in a direct course towards Boruto. Boruto sighed and began dodging all her attempts to make contact. He knew better, of course. One touch and he would be slammed at least twenty meters with all his chakra pathways and muscle tendons would have been severed.

"You've tried this method already, Sarada," Boruto comment offhandedly. "I thought you would try another method already. Unless, you're done?"

Sarada narrowed her eyes at the implication Boruto drew. No matter how close to home he was, Sarada could not let him know that she was about done in ways to beat her infuriating mentor.

Taijutsu, she found was only effective if she managed to make contact. The few times she had grazed him and the one time she made direct contact, which she proudly looked back on with affection, had noticeably handicapped him. However, Boruto was definitely his grandfather's descendant as he could have probably rivaled the Flash with his speed.

Genjutsu, her forté in her profession, was also thrown completely out the window due to Boruto's massive reserves. As if out of completely habit, he pulses chakra to disrupt all her illusions if he even senses the least bit discomfort. Once, when she almost had him captured in Tsukuyomi**, Boruto felt the genjutsu creep on, he emitted such raw chakra to disrupt her flow that she had physical burns when it hit her.

Ninjutsu was also out of the picture. Their nature affinities naturally cancels each other out. This was not even taking into account Boruto's massive chakra reserves which at least outsized her by half her own.

"Dotōn: Dosekiryū no jutsu***!"

Boruto immediately moved to a far range position. Though, the best course was to use a lightning release, his namesake did not align with that affinity at all. However, if he used enough chakra with water release..

"Sutōn: Bakusui Shōha no jutsu*(4)!"

Pumping in just the right amount and a wee bit extra at his last seal, Boruto puffed his chest and let out a massive wave, attacking the earth-made dragon head on. Though typically earth did well against water, the sheer amount from Boruto's jutsu wore Sarada's dragon down to mud, allowing it to falter before hitting its intended target.

Sarada made a sound of discontent and made an earth barrier before the wave could wash over her.

Yet again, jutsus did not work.

Setting her brain to overdrive, Sarada began strategizing ways to recounter this fight again. Though she did not like to admit it, Boruto was better than her in every conceivable way. Speed, chakra capacity, and sense awareness.

_Think_, Sarada aggressively told herself as she continued to pump chakra into maintaining her earth dome. She had about ten seconds before her oxygen capacity in her underwater dome expired.

There had to be a weakness.

_Think, think, think_!

Three.

Two.

One.

And then suddenly it hit her like a ton of bricks.

Literally.

Boruto smashed through her dome and water came erupting in. Recoiling from the sudden attack, Sarada shot towards the surface and landed on top of the mini lake Boruto made from his last technique. Boruto followed not a millisecond after.

"I thought you were a goner," he mocked with a playful grin on his face.

Sarada gave a dry smile, "Fat chance, Uzumaki."

She was completely soaked. Her arm guards were slipping down, the red kimono jacket with her family symbol on the back stuck to her body in an uncomfortable way, and her shorts were giving her a wedgie.

Sarada carefully weighed the odds of her cloths hindering her movement and modesty. In the end, she opted for movement and quickly stripped off the soaked excess until she was in nothing but a cropped, sleeveless turtleneck, shorts, her weapons pack, and ninja sandals.

Boruto let out an appreciative whistle, "What a show."

Sarada inwardly smirked. _What a show he'll get, indeed_.

With a flourish, Sarada sprinted towards her handler.

Immediately, Boruto ducked at her slash towards his head and welcomed the change from long range to close combat as they made their way off the improv-lake and onto land. Sarada had made it clear to him that she found his presence nauseating and stuck to mid to far range after an incident where he grabbed her breast while hauling her off him. Honest mistake. Really.

Sarada let out a puff of air and groaned into Boruto's ear when his fist managed a hit into her stomach.

Boruto narrowed his eyes. She could have dodged that.

Almost immediately, Sarada braced her hands on Boruto's shoulders to support her as she wrapped her legs around his torso and arms. With great flexibility, she leaned back to the ground into a handstand and flexed. Boruto went flying headfirst to the ground before dissipating into a cloud of smoke.

Sarada continued her flip and skid to a crouch before splitting the ground directly to a tree, revealing Boruto's hiding spot. Summoning a chidori*(5) in her right fist, she cocked her hip to one side and gave a smirk.

"Come out and play with me, _Sensei._"

Boruto was not amused.

The fight that continued on after that also began irritating Boruto in the worst kind of way. Sarada's fighting style could best be described as efficient. Her stances and strike patterns followed a direct line. In a way, it was very methodical and to the point. However, in this particular fight, she decided to add extra flourish in her movement. It was not a huge difference, seeing as when she did hit him, it _hurt_ but the extra backflips and dancing-esque moves were a noticeable difference in her usual fight style.

And then there was the whole grunting business!

Sarada was a silent fighter, true to the shinōbi name. Seldomly did she ever let out a grunt or a moan when he makes contact. It was a psychological game most shinōbis played to egg the opponent that their attack was not strong enough to elicit a bodily reaction.

However, whenever he had made contact, Sarada has been letting out quiet gasps and moans. Perhaps after all the nonstop fighting for the past three months finally has taken its toll on her body. It made him feel almost bad when making contact. Key word: almost, seeing as immediately, she offers a none-too-gentle counter.

As Sarada made a motion to back track, Boruto aggressively threw a round-house kick at her face in an attempt to keep her from retreating. In the split seconds he was going to make contact, Sarada instead dropped to a split—Boruto's mind immediately swore a storm— and reached up to grab his leg.

Bolt's vision blacked out for a bit as he was thrown a few meters away. That little—

She pumped lightning chakra into him when she grabbed his leg, effectively body shocking him for a few seconds.

While trying to gather his wits, he felt a pressure on his pelvis as Sarada straddled him. With every intention to give her a piece of his mind, Boruto turned his glare to Sarada.

However, instead of cockiness or a mocking expression, Sarada's face was oddly serious. _Smoldering_.

Encaptured by her expression and what she were to do next, Boruto completely forgot his anger in lieu of Sarada's sharingan eyes. Unlike times before, the tomoe of her eyes spun lazily as she stared back at Boruto. This continued for a bit before they faded into her oh so _greengreengreen_ eyes—

And then she leaned over him and placed one hand on the zipper of his vest, while the other hand grasped the ribbon that bundled her hair out of her face. Simultaneously, she slowly straightened her back while unzipping his jōnin vest and undoing her hair ribbon. Sarada's hair, still damp from being soaked, slowly fell gracefully as it stuck to her face and arms.

A single drop of water traveled from her hair, down her arms, and dropped harmless on the standard blue shirt he wore underneath his vest now exposed.

Boruto slowly swallowed.

Placing both hands on his abs this time, Sarada slowly, _slowly_ slid them up to his chest before making grasping his shoulders and trailing it down to his hands, pinning them above his head. In an attempt to stretch her muscles, Sarada arched her back but instead, pressed her breasts into his chest and her hips right on his pelvis. Involuntarily, he grinded against her.

Sarada, surprised at the jolt of pleasure, gasped, "_Boruto_!"

_Of holy fucks_, Boruto mind was going out in all sorts of whacks. _Shitfuckshitfuckshitfu_—

"That was _naughty_," Sarada whispered into Boruto ear.

Boruto immediately froze.

"I'm going to have to punish you."

_Oh my god_, Boruto thought as Sarada chakra bounded his hands and straighten up from her leaning-over position. _This totally cannot be happening_.

Sarada moved to seat herself in between his legs and with deft hands, began undoing his pants.

"W-Wait! Please, I don't —" Boruto started stammering before being cut off when Sarada began kneading circles on his hip. Bending over, she dragged her mouth from his right hip to his left and—

Nothing.

"In our fight by the Land of Hot Water's border, I saw a glint of red when you drew your kunai from your weapon's pouch. I had my suspicions, and I was right."

Boruto, peeking his eyes open, looked down to still see Sarada in a provocative position with a red needle jutting from her mouth. The red needle she was suppose to find to clear this last stage in training.

"Found it," she grinned and added in offhandedly, "_Sensei._"

It was damn awesome being a female.

* * *

Chiharu was beyond amused.

She continued to watch as Boruto angrily tore up Training Ground Seventeen.

From the report, in the last fight Sarada Uchiha was able to clear the final object through a means of a "psychological fight where pre-program genetics were employed against men."

In other words, Sarada had seduced the fuck out of Boruto and he fell for it. The situation had left the hokage guffawing at his son and muttering, "such youth," over and over again, much to his son's embarrassment.

Despite how mortifying it was for Boruto to lose in such a manner, Chiharu's experience from the field had known how effective a seductive style can be. Adding a few backbends and splits draws a male opponent to the fighter's body frame. And according to the report, Sarada had stripped herself down to the bare essentials, heightening her already attractive figure. The sexual tensions oozes to the point where the opponent eventually cannot deny the sex appeal and unconsciously softens his blows and slows the reaction time.

It is a cruel way to fight. And undeniably entertaining when thinking of little Boruto bursting into a hot mess of red as Sarada Uchiha lays it on thick.

A bird suddenly flew into her vision, interrupting her train of thought. Quickly reading the message, Chiharu dismissed the bird and hopped down from the tree over looking the training ground.

"Hey Boruto, let's stop for the day," Chiharu called out.

Boruto, wiping the sweat off his forehead, turned questioningly to his captain.

"We have an emergency squad meeting. Uchiha's induction is being pushed to today. We have a mission in a week."

* * *

Boruto Uzumaki had to be the most irritating man on the god-_fucking_-damn planet.

Sarada had been having a nice spar with Jinjin when Boruto showed up out of nowhere and demanded her to follow him. When she had refused on the account he would not tell her where, he hiraishin-ed both of them to the ANBU HQ without notice without her consent.

"What the actual fuck, Bolt?" Sarada shouted as she punched the top of his head.

Ducking out of the way while walking towards his destination, Boruto frostily replied, "I needed you to come with me and you wouldn't listen."

Sarada following him, abet reluctantly, snarkily replied, "So?"

"So, I used Hiraishin."

"You can't just used that whenever you want!"

"And why not?" Boruto replied dryly.

"Because it violates my space."

"But I had to get you here on hokage's orders."

Boruto released a series of seals when a door appeared. Grasping the handle, he pulled it open as Sarada shouted out in exasperation, "That still does not make it okay! I need to give consent, goddamn it!"

"Whoa. Consensual sex is important my friends," a new voice detachedly added.

Immediately, Boruto irritatedly twitched at the voice and Sarada whipped her head into the room to give the newcomer a piece of her mind. However, whomever she thought she were to find was completely irrelevant as she saw a bored Shikadai, a gaping Takeuchi, and a woman she did not recognize surveying the scene.

The woman then straightened herself, gave an amused smile, "Now, now. Though Shikadai makes an excellent point—" She deftly dodged a needle Boruto threw at her face, "—we should probably introduce ourselves first."

Holding out a hand, she continued, "I'm Chiharu Umemori, your new captain. Welcome to the Elite."

* * *

*Hiraishin no Jutsu means Flying Thunder God Technique.  
Contrary to popular believe, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju was the one who created the technique. Not Minato. Minato simply somehow procured the seal. The jutsu requires the use of a jutsu-shiki, or a special seal, to mark an object or user. This can be applied through brief physical contact, connecting the user to the marked object/person's chakra. This allows for the user to enter a dimensional void that instantaneously transports them to the seal's location. This holds vice-versa for the marked object/person if enough chakra is applied.

**Tsukuyomi means Moon Reader.  
This technique is the jutsu Itachi used on Sasuke the night of the Uchiha Massacre. It puts the victim in a spiritual world of darkness controlled by the jutsu user. Typically in the anime, the world is colored in red, white and black. In this "world," the user has control over time, making seconds feel like days. The victim is usually inflicted with psychological torture, incapacitating them for a period of time there on after.

***Dotōn: Dosekiryū no jutsu means Earth Release: Earth and Stone Dragon.  
This is a technique that allows the user to create a dragon out of the earth below to attack the opponent.

****Sutōn: Bakusui Shōha no jutsu means Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave.  
This technique allows the user to spit an exuberant amount of water from the mouth and form it into a massive wave. The user can ride the wave as well.

*****Chidori means One Thousand Birds.  
This is the ever so popular technique Sasuke bases most of his lightning techniques on, created by Kakashi Hatake. The user channels large amounts of lightning chakra in their fists in a concentrated ball. The dense ball of electricity emits a sound similar of birds chirping, hence the name. In this universe, Chidori will probably become a part of the growing arsenal of Uchiha signature family jutsus.

**A/N: **Sorry this took so long. I hope you enjoyed the chapter ;)


	7. Chapter Six: A Shaky Commaderie

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.  
**Author:** iamwildatheart

* * *

The Elite  
_Chapter Six_  
A Shaky Commaderie

* * *

Practical, calculating, and intelligent.

These are the qualities that describe Shikadai Nara.

He was the top of his class back at the academy and followed his father's footsteps in being the only one of his team to make chūnin on the first try. His IQ fell short only to his father and the Uchiha girl, whom in his younger days he accepted to be a worthy opponent in both video games and shōgi. His strength, intelligence, and ingenuity had landed him one of the coveted spots in the Elite for the past four years.

In short, Shikadai had rightfully earned his title as vice captain and team strategizer. The mortality rate sans Mihara, which still chokes Shikadai up at night, was a testimony to that.

However, times like this was where Shikadai wondered how on earth he was able to secure a spot on the Elite before its newest member had.

Sakura Haruno had instilled in her daughter the key to monstrous strength and medical ninjutsu. Sasuke Uchiha had passed along his ingenuity in utilizing ninjutsu and mastery in swordsmanship. Between the two of them, Sarada had also inherited a ridiculous chakra reserve, intelligence, and tenacity.

With that, Shikadai sighed and drooped his shoulders in defeat as he had come to his conclusion.

"What a drag."

Takeuchi could not help but chuckle at Shikadai's response and went off to jostle Boroto's ruffled feathers some more.

Shikadai followed Takeuchi's movement and monitored Boroto's grumpy response. Typically, the Hokage's son was a lot more respectful and all around charismatic person. There has been a handful of times Shikadai has ever seen Boroto anything but the gentleman (abet occasional ruffian like the hokage) Lady Hinata had raised him to be. Barring, of course, his academy days. And so, of course Shikadai had found it incredibly interesting to see Boroto's chilly responses to Sarada.

Immediately, Shikadai's gaze shifted back to the fight between Chiharu and Sarada. Though to the general public the fight may seem like a standstill, Shikadai had actively counted four times Sarada could have delivered an ending blow and two times his captain could have easily fatally impaled the Uchiha heir.

Arms dragging behind her, Sarada left a wide opening to her side, prompting Chiharu to immediately aimed her kunai at Sarada's ribs. Almost too quick to see, Sarada snapped her hand forward and caught the offending object. She used the momentum to throw the kunai back at Chiharu, who instinctively dodged and realized too late what Sarada had been doing. Bracing herself for the explosion, Chiharu threw her arms up, only to have the air knocked out of her lungs when Sarada tackled her to the ground before the kibakū fūda, which Chiharu tried using earlier in the fight but decided against it, could explode in her face.

A boom rocked Training Ground Twenty-Four while Shikadai continued to count what would have been Sarada's fifth win.

Sucking in the much needed air, Chiharu called the fight to an end. Sarada offered an arm and the Elite captain gladly accepted.

"You're something else, Uchiha," Chiharu complimented.

Sarada beamed, "Please, call me Sarada, Captain."

At that, even Chiharu couldn't help but give a rare smile and commented rather loudly (because Chiharu was not one to yell) to her remaining subordinates, "Someone take note from Uchiha how to properly respect your captain."

Shikadai concluded that Sarada was indeed a monster to have won over his sadistic captain so quickly.

* * *

Arms wrapped around her neck, Sarada scowled as her close friend wrangled her hair into a nest.

"Takeuchi! Let go!"

With a mischievous grin, Takeuchi cheekily gave a negative and began tickling her. Before Sarada could really retaliate, Takeuchi released her and took to the roofs, beginning a game of tag.

When Sarada was young, Takeuchi had always seem to be impossibly fast. Between her short legs and Takeuchi's long ones, he was sure to win tag every time. However, with Boroto's phase two Elite speed training, Sarada had managed to win her first game of tag in over six years.

Breathless, both seasoned shinōbis laid atop the Hokage Mountains side by side.

"Takeuchi, I caught up to you."

Takeuchi, smiled and ruffled the young Uchiha's hair. "Proud of you, Pipsqueak."

Sarada's scowled at the awful childhood nickname.

Takeuchi only laughed and ruffled her hair some more. Eventually, the duo began chatting about mundane things that Sarada had missed out while she was on her long mission. Inojin had gotten a civilian girlfriend. Chocho's latest diet.

When the conversation died out and the two laid in content silence, Sarada asked the question she had been wondering about for a while.

"Do you ever miss your family?"

Takeuchi was silent per usual at the mention of his family. However, he was not surprised that Sarada had asked this. In the recent years since the shinōbi death of his parents, he had grown close to the Uchiha family. Sasuke Uchiha, a man heavily weighed by the massacre of his entire family, was more than happy to accept Takeuchi into his family. Though they are kind, the Uchihas could never replace his real family.

Not really sure how to admit this, Takeuchi gave Sarada a half truth.

"I do," Takeuchi eventually answered, "but I have found myself a new family that loves me just as much and I don't need to miss them because they are right here."

Sarada smiled brightly at his answer before shyly admitting, "I'm glad, because you're like the big brother I never got."

Takeuchi, touched by her words, could only obnoxiously answer in a way big brothers would.

"And you're the annoying little sister I never got."

* * *

Boroto had watched the scene unfold between his best friend and Sarada Uchiha.

Never before has Boroto seen Takeuchi so unguarded and relaxed as he was flying across Konoha in a child's game. Though he knew offhandedly that they shared a close bond, Boroto had not cared to witness their interaction as the thought of Sarada during his childhood brought up untold fears only an Uchiha sprawn could invoke.

However, the new Sarada was an enigma full of paradoxes.

During the second and last phases of her Elite training, Boroto was able to work with Sarada closely in an unusual way. Though they had spent long times apart where he would tend to the small missions the hokage secretly sent him on and she would work on tracking him, they was able to familiarize themselves quickly to each other's chakra signature due to constant vigilance and repetitive battles. They were able to learn each other's battle strategies and styles while improving themselves.

With all the new protocols in the shinōbi handbook nowadays, it was common for you to only be a part of two teams for the majority of your career. As fresh genin children, you were placed in a diverse set of teammates that balanced each other's inequalities under the omniscient eyes of your jōnin leader. However, not long after, you would specialize and be additionally placed on a second team with a different jōnin leader who could efficiently help you master your discipline. Before he joined the Elite, Boroto could count the number of shinōbis he was close to in one hand.

This was not to be confused with the fact Boroto has not also met and frequented with other shinōbis above and below his year, which he has. It was just that Boroto had not needed to intimately acquaint himself to a new person in so long.

Mihara's death was the first death he had experience of someone close to his heart, though he knows he is fortunate enough to not have had someone he's loved die until now. But there was something wrong in seeing someone he had admired replaced so soon with someone so spectacular.

For two months, Boroto was hyperaware of this new female figure in his life whom he held a childhood distain for. Sarada was as beautiful as she was terrifying. As he slowly gained respect for Sarada, Boroto could not help but hate her a little too. Scorn her for essentially being a better Mihara in both skill and fit for the team. In a way, if he liked her too much, it felt like he was betraying Mihara.

Instantly, Boroto felt Sarada appear by his side. Huh, guess Takeuchi left already.

"What's with the brooding face?"

Disregarding a response, Boroto instead chose to peer at Sarada's face in mock hopes she could read his mind too if she was so damn talented in everything. Sarada ignored him and settled next to him instead.

"If this is about me joining the team, I'm sorry."

Damn, she was.

"But I'm not leaving," Sarada continued on, "I earned every bit of my right to be here."

Boroto sighed and turned his gaze back to one of the main streets of Konoha, "It's not your fault. I apologize for my behavior these past few days."

"I definitely am sorry for instigated it though," then offhandedly Sarada added, "and for being a little shit to you when I was younger."

Boroto's mouth twitched to a small smile at the comment and chuckled, "Yeah, me too."

With that, Sarada turned to leave for the evening. As Boroto watched his new underling shrink into the distance, he felt a little better. It was by no means of a complete acceptance of each other (this would be impossible in their line of work), but it was a truce for time.

Something that he desperately needed and Sarada was kind enough to offer him.

* * *

Naruto slumped in his chair.

There were few times in which Naruto had felt his age extend years beyond him. When both Boruto and Himawari was born. When Tsunade died. When Ino, Choji, and Karui were wiped out in the invasion of Takigakure. When Sarada was assigned her first chūnin mission.

But with the new intel he was given from Sai, Naruto had never felt so jaded.

"This is bad," Naruto sighed.

Shikamaru, stressed with the news, was already smoking his third cigarette.

"Get me Sasuke."

With that, Sai was dismissed.

"You know what this means, right?"

Naruto continued shuffling his papers as he felt a terrible gut feeling gather in his stomach.

"Naruto," Shikamaru called out once more. A pause.

"Yeah, I know, Shikamaru. I know."

* * *

They were doing okay.

Actually more than okay. Boruto was everything she had ever dreamed of in a partnership. Despite being complete polars in their colorings and the occasional squabble, Sarada had come to realize that Boroto and her were a lot more complimentary than she had initially thought.

Chiharu-taichō had given them five days to get their act together before they were deployed for an A ranked contact scouting mission.

The first day had been awkward and slow as they had done more experimenting than actual simulations. At some point, they both had mixed up two different tentative elemental combinations and Boruto accidentally exploded a water bomb technique and while Sarada simultaneously seared both their pants off. Needless to say, that combination is to never be seen again.

The next few days, she and Boruto had found a rhythm that matched their styles perfectly. Sarada was a close to mid-range fighter, while Boruto excelled in mid-range to long distance. Their combination of primary affinities of fire and wind and secondary affinities of lightning and water were deadly should they be attacked in any direction. Her strong and wide attacks were covered by Boruto's unpredictable speed and ingenuity. Without realizing it, they were both predicting each other's attack and defense patterns and reacted accordingly without ever really planning anything.

On the final day of their training, Boruto decided to switch up their training and work on strategies instead.

"I typically talk these over with Shikadai, but I hear you're better," Boruto smiled mischievously.

Sarada rolled her eyes. Just because her IQ was higher, does not mean she was a better strategist. She told him such.

"Besides," she added, "a good plan utilizes all the assets while planning for the worst. I have no clue what Elite missions are like or the variables."

Boruto merely shrugged, "Try guessing."

Sarada knew Boruto's true intentions. He wanted to know what kind of shinōbi she was. A good ninja has mastered the three main arts of ninjūtsu, genjūtsu, and taijūtsu. A _great_ ninja, however, was a smart, manipulative bastard, something Boruto was shown capable of too many times in Sarada's opinion.

"Here's a scenario," he said as he settled on his haunches and began drawing a diagram. "Say our scouting mission is for ten days and here's the layout. Locate where the boss man will most likely be heavily protected and give me three escape routes should an infiltration go wrong."

Sarada perked an eyebrow. He had to be kidding right?

"Where would we be exactly?"

"Amegakure."

Sarada shifted her gaze back on the diagram. Just from an initial glance, Sarada could see several escape routes that were passible, but based on the level of the mission, Sarada knew better. After several more seconds, Sarada gave Boruto her answer. At that, Boruto raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you think our target would be most vulnerable in the cellar?"

"Rain style houses have a structure that focuses on irrigation of the house and the area around to keep from flooding. Because of that, the earth is pretty vulnerable underground since most of it is soaked with water. Despite preventative measures of reinforcing metal and stone, water oxidizes and loosens the foundation pretty easily."

Without missing a beat, "Why was the top floor not an escape option?"

"Rain is the only place where shinōbi do not travel by roofs, All roof tiles are lined with sensors to track outsider movements, should they somehow evade Ukojizai no Jutsu.*"

Boruto rocked back and forth on his feet. "Formidable idea traveling by tunnels. I don't think I would've thought about that."

Sarada shrugged, "I know it's geography a bit better than other's."

After scrutinizing her a bit more, Boruto dropped his pensive look and flashed her a grin, "Looking forward to scouting with ya."

Despite typically being calm and collected, Sarada shot back a small smile for finally impressing an Uzumaki.

Small victories, indeed.

* * *

"Hokage-sama."

Before the Nanadaime, all five Elites kneed before him with an arm crossed as a sign of respect.

"Ah," Naruto grinned, "Chiharu-san. The lady of the hour. Punctual as usual."

"Of course, Hokage-sama."

"I am pleased with the report of the new developing team dynamic. I am happy you are adjusting well, Sarada-chan," Naruto hummed as he searched his desk for the appropriate scrolls.

At that, Sarada slightly nodded in acknowledgement to Naruto-ōji's compliment.

"Ah! Here it is!" At that, Naruto tossed the scroll right into Chiharu's hands. "As usual, your mission is multifaceted. Investigate the string of incidences of village burnings across Fire's borders. We believe the perpetrators are from the smaller lands. Dispatch them and report your findings to me. Dismissed."

At that, the Elite disappeared with a breeze.

In a field on the outskirts of Konoha, Chiharu had everyone read the summary and mission objectives. Once they were familiar with the instructions, Chiharu burned the scroll.

"Shikadai."

"Hai hai," came the hereditary Nara drawl. "Based on the information presented. It would be a lot quicker if we split into groups of two - one covering the western border and the other northeastern border. Work your way towards the northwest and we shall meet in by the Earth. Based on the activity, it makes sense to send Boruto and Sarada towards the northeast while the rest of us head to the west. Objections?"

There were none.

At that, Chiharu barked, "Dismissed."

Not too long after that, Sarada stopped by a convenience store and bought a box dye that turned her hair red. Though it would be prudent for it to be brown or nondescript, Sarada didn't think it was wise to do brown again since her charades mission was not too long ago. When Boruto had first saw her after dying her hair, he had tried to smother his laugher. Sarada, unamused, slapped Boruto on the back.

"You look like Karin-ōba-san," Boruto snorted.

At that, Sarada glowered at him a little harder, "And you look like an Inuzuka mutt."

Which was somewhat true as Boruto dyed his uncontrollable hair brown to combat his infamous physical attribute.

Regardless, Boruto took it well and only grinned wider, "Better a mutt than Karin-ōba-san."

Sarada sighed and turned to the trees to head to Yu no Kuni**. Not missing a beat, Boruto followed her lead and began the long trek to the border.

* * *

A couple weeks later, Sarada remembered why she hated scouting missions.

"Start moaning, damn it!" Boruto snarled at her as he ripped her shirt off.

"I would, if you did a better job at ravishing me," Sarada hissed back snarkily.

Boruto stopped his movements and pulled Sarada up on the bed so that they were eye to eye. "_Was that a challenge?_"

Without missing a beat, Boruto began kissing her while rubbing circles on her inner thighs. And god forbid, it actually felt good. His right hand caressed her curves before moving to rub circles on her breast. Sarada began writhing and her still-clothed hips buckled. At that, Boruto's pelvis met her half way and Sarada couldn't remember the last time she got laid but it must have been too long.

But before Sarada could even think about what she was doing, the door to their room slammed open and two guards bursted through. The undercover shinōbi flinched as they pretended to be the newlywed civilians they had been playing for weeks.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" the first officer said when he noticed their state of undress.

Boruto, who had shielded Sarada's body like a true gentleman, looked both annoyed and tensed as he looked at the officers. "I don't know why you thought it would be acceptable to barge in on a newlywed suite in the middle of the night."

The second officer, who had just noticed the privacy sign as Boruto said it, turned beet red and stammered his apologies and quickly ushered his partner out the door.

Sarada, still shock at the events that had unfolded, stared wide-eyed at her partner. Boruto, ruffling his hair at the closeness of being caught, turned to Sarada. At her state of un-dressed, he gave a boy-ish smile.

"Guess I'll just have to pick up this challenge another time, huh?"

At that, Sarada had turned as red as her hair and kicked a cackling Boruto off the bed.

* * *

Boruto frowned.

Across the various borders of Fire and neighboring countries, the reported post towns that have been set on fire are suddenly vacant. From his scouting missions in Lightning and Snow, he had come across numerous villages where the dead have been piled in the center. However, for this pattern to cease all of a sudden, Boruto felt weary.

He crept around the most recent ghost town while Sarada was running the perimeters. Blood was smeared across doors and windows. At the village center, Boruto found the same Konohagakure no Sato flag burning vividly against the wind, the bodies of the villagers missing.

Before Boruto could think much more, he felt Sarada pull at the seal he had instructed her to activate if she ever needed him but was too far away to call. At that, Boruto felt her chakra signature flicker somewhere north. Attaching to the seal he had placed on her, he transported himself.

Sarada was standing next to a weeping willow. Clutched in her hand was a detached arm with a message that someone attached via kunai stabbing.

"Come to Takigakure, if you dare," Sarada reads off. Though her voice was leveled, her cadence spoke volumes. This was horrid.

"This arm belonged to a water-natured shinōbi."

At that Boruto looked questionably at his partner to elaborate how she knew.

Sarada pointed at various places on the arm, "The muscles are too well developed to be a civilians and too small to be a laborer. Shinōbi use chakra to keep their muscle lean and ten times as efficient. The chakra pathway at the pulse here are swollen, a typical characteristic of water-natured chakra usage."

Boruto nodded and was inwardly impressed at Sarada's medical prowess.

"There's not much at the village post," he said, giving his own report, "It's much like the other towns we've been seeing. I have a feeling, however, that whatever that's happening at these posts, we'll find at Takigakure. Be on guard."

Sarada nodded and followed Boruto's lead past the border. Not too long later, Boruto tensed as he realized no guards were guarding Haru no Kuni***. Eyes narrowed, he pushed the pace even more and in seven hours of heavy running, the duo had reached the outskirts of Takigakure. Takigakure was a beautiful village hidden inside of a plateau with waterfalls free falling on many side of it. However, Boruto found the atmosphere was strangely vacant for a hidden village.

Before Boruto could get any further, Sarada stopped him. Looking over, he saw that her sharingan was activated and had caught the movement of something. Following her line of vision, Boruto tensed. Sarada cautiously walked over to the cliff that overlooked the hidden village and nearly broke the kunai she had clasped in her hand.

In the water surrounding the village, were bodies floating. Dead bodies.

Sarada quickly made the hundred meter jump and checked the nearest shinōbi headband. But before she could say anything, Boruto had beat her to it.

"Good god, they've wiped out Takigakure."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hi guys. Sorry it's been so long! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)

_*Ukojizai no Jutsu_ \- Also known as Rainmaker jutsu or Rain Tiger at Will Technique. It was utilized by Pein when he ruled over Amegakure as a way to monitor intruders. The user laces his or her chakra into the rain clouds, and each rain drop acts as a sensor for the manipulator.

_**Yu no Kuni_ \- The Land of Hot Water.

***_Haru no Kuni_ \- The Land of Spring is a country that I made up for the estate of Takigakure, otherwise known as the Village of Hidden Waterfalls.


End file.
